Get Language Disorders a functional approach to assessment and intervention in children 7th Edition Robert E. Owens free all chapters

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 40

Get ebook downloads in full at ebookmeta.

com

Language Disorders a functional approach to


assessment and intervention in children 7th
Edition Robert E. Owens

https://ebookmeta.com/product/language-disorders-a-
functional-approach-to-assessment-and-intervention-in-
children-7th-edition-robert-e-owens/

OR CLICK BUTTON

DOWNLOAD NOW

Explore and download more ebook at https://ebookmeta.com


Recommended digital products (PDF, EPUB, MOBI) that
you can download immediately if you are interested.

Introduction to Communication Disorders: A Lifespan


Evidence-Based Perspective (The Pearson Communication
Sciences and Disorders Series) 6th Edition Robert Owens
https://ebookmeta.com/product/introduction-to-communication-disorders-
a-lifespan-evidence-based-perspective-the-pearson-communication-
sciences-and-disorders-series-6th-edition-robert-owens/
ebookmeta.com

Social Work with Older Adults: A Biopsychosocial Approach


to Assessment and Intervention 5th Edition Mcinnis-
Dittrich
https://ebookmeta.com/product/social-work-with-older-adults-a-
biopsychosocial-approach-to-assessment-and-intervention-5th-edition-
mcinnis-dittrich/
ebookmeta.com

Cortical Visual Impairment An Approach to Assessment and


Intervention 2nd Edition Christine Roman-Lantzy

https://ebookmeta.com/product/cortical-visual-impairment-an-approach-
to-assessment-and-intervention-2nd-edition-christine-roman-lantzy/

ebookmeta.com

Confidence Pocketbook : Little Exercises for a Self-


Assured Life 1st Edition Gill Hasson

https://ebookmeta.com/product/confidence-pocketbook-little-exercises-
for-a-self-assured-life-1st-edition-gill-hasson/

ebookmeta.com
Intercultural Communicative Competence in English Language
Teaching in Polish State Colleges 1st Edition Piotr
Romanowski
https://ebookmeta.com/product/intercultural-communicative-competence-
in-english-language-teaching-in-polish-state-colleges-1st-edition-
piotr-romanowski/
ebookmeta.com

Lose You to Find Me 1st Edition Erik J. Brown

https://ebookmeta.com/product/lose-you-to-find-me-1st-edition-erik-j-
brown-2/

ebookmeta.com

Love and Monsters Book Club Boys 1 1st Edition Max Walker

https://ebookmeta.com/product/love-and-monsters-book-club-boys-1-1st-
edition-max-walker/

ebookmeta.com

The TYPO3 Guidebook: Understand and Use TYPO3 CMS 1st


Edition Felicity Brand

https://ebookmeta.com/product/the-typo3-guidebook-understand-and-use-
typo3-cms-1st-edition-felicity-brand-2/

ebookmeta.com

Mediterranean Fruits Bio wastes Chemistry Functionality


and Technological Applications Mohamed Fawzy Ramadan
(Editor)
https://ebookmeta.com/product/mediterranean-fruits-bio-wastes-
chemistry-functionality-and-technological-applications-mohamed-fawzy-
ramadan-editor/
ebookmeta.com
Beyond the Mountains of Madness 1st Edition Price Robert
Ed

https://ebookmeta.com/product/beyond-the-mountains-of-madness-1st-
edition-price-robert-ed/

ebookmeta.com
LANGUAGE DISORDERS
Thoroughly updated to meet the needs of today’s students in communication sciences and disorders

OWENS
programs, Language Disorders: A Functional Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Children, Seventh Edition
is a comprehensive overview of language disorders and clinical practice with a focus on the child’s overall
communication effectiveness. Unlike other texts that have a disorder-specific focus, this book emphasizes a
functional and holistic approach to assessment and intervention by shifting the perspective to how a child uses the
language feature targeted and how assessment can consider language as it’s used. The author presents intervention A Functional Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Children
methods in a system of least prompts, followed by information on each area of language and literacy. Generalization
is foremost throughout the text.

Known for writing numerous bestselling textbooks related to speech-language pathology, the author approaches this
complex subject in a practical matter while maintaining a conversational writing style that resonates with students.
SEVENTH
EDITION SEVENTH EDITION
Key Features:
• Each chapter begins with a case example
• Information on children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds is woven into each chapter
Robert E. Owens, Jr.

A Functional Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Children


• “Food for Thought” boxes invite students to move beyond the text and consider the implications for
assessment and intervention of the material
• Key terms are highlighted throughout and included in a
handy glossary
• Numerous tables provide easy reference on the many techniques and norms
• Multiple appendices include additional practical information

LANGUAGE DISORDERS
New to the Seventh Edition:
• New and improved modern layout with color enhancements
• 600+ new references highlighting the latest theoretical and evidence-based practices
• Greater focus on discussions of assessment of children with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• New section on developmental language disorders (DLD), with new and more inclusive terms
• Increased emphasis on autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• The chapters on language and narrative analysis have been strengthened and consolidated into one
• Increased number of figures and tables

Robert E. Owens, Jr., PhD, CCC-SLP, served in the U.S. Navy as a submarine
officer, and then received his doctoral degree from The Ohio State University
in 1978. He is an author and co-author of four textbooks and a score of
professional articles and book chapters, and has presented nearly 250
professional papers and workshops across the country and around the world.
Currently, he is a professor at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY where
he lives with his spouse. In addition, he is a co-developer of SUGAR, a free,
valid language sampling and analysis tool for children 3 to 11 years old. He
has three children and three grandchildren.

www.pluralpublishing.com
LANGUAGE DISORDERS
A Functional Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Children

SEVENTH EDITION
LANGUAGE DISORDERS
A Functional Approach to Assessment and Intervention in Children

SEVENTH EDITION

Robert E. Owens, Jr., PhD, CCC-SLP


5521 Ruffin Road
San Diego, CA 92123

e-mail: [email protected]
Website: https://www.pluralpublishing.com

Copyright © 2024 by Plural Publishing, Inc.

Typeset in 10.5/14 Stone Serif by Flanagan’s Publishing Services, Inc.


Printed in the United States of America by Integrated Books International

All rights, including that of translation, reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
recording, or otherwise, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, or
information storage and retrieval systems without the prior written consent of the publisher.

This book was previously published by Pearson Education, Inc.

For permission to use material from this text, contact us by


Telephone: (866) 758-7251
Fax: (888) 758-7255
e-mail: [email protected]

Every attempt has been made to contact the copyright holders for material originally printed in another
source. If any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publisher will gladly make the necessary arrangements
at the first opportunity.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Owens, Robert E., Jr., 1944- author.


Title: Language disorders : a functional approach to assessment and
intervention in children / Robert E. Owens, Jr.
Description: Seventh edition. | San Diego, CA : Plural Publishing, Inc.,
[2024] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022034971 (print) | LCCN 2022034972 (ebook) | ISBN
9781635504132 (paperback) | ISBN 1635504139 (paperback) | ISBN
9781635504149 (ebook)
Subjects: MESH: Language Disorders | Language Therapy | Child | Infant
Classification: LCC RJ496.L35 (print) | LCC RJ496.L35 (ebook) | NLM WL
340.2 | DDC 618.92/855--dc23/eng/20220826
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022034971
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022034972

iv
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

CHAPTER 1. A FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE APPROACH 1

Language and Language Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2


Traditional and Functional Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Traditional Intervention Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The Functional Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Role of Pragmatics in Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Dimensions of Communication Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Role of Generalization in Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Variables That Affect Generalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Evidence-Based Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Getting “It” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

CHAPTER 2. LANGUAGE DISORDERS 23

Developmental and Educational Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24


Possible Risk and Related Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Neurological Basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Aspects of Language Affected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Information Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Discrimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Diagnostic Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Continuum of Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Broad Groupings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

v
Developmental Language Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Social Communication Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

CHAPTER 3. LANGUAGE DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH OTHER DISORDERS 55

Language Disorders Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56


Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Risk Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Language Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Possible Causal Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Language Disorders Associated With Learning Disability/Specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Learning Disorder
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Language Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Possible Causal Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Dyslexia/Specific Learning Disorder With Impairment in Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
and Writing
Similar Disorders: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Seemingly Similar Disorders: Prenatal Drug and Alcohol Exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Language Disorders Associated With Intellectual Developmental Disorder . . . . . . . . 76
Language Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Possible Causal Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Language Disorders Associated With Neurocognitive Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Traumatic Brain Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Cerebrovascular Accident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Language Disorders Associated With Maltreatment: Neglect and Abuse . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Language Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Possible Causal Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Language Disorders Associated With Less Frequent Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Late Language Emergence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Childhood Schizophrenia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Selective Mutism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Otitis Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Deafness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

vi
CHAPTER 4. EARLY COMMUNICATION INTERVENTION 101

Legal Basis for Early Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102


The Early Intervention Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Children Served in ECI Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Established Risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
At-Risk Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
ECI Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Transdisciplinary Model of Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Family Concerns, Priorities, and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Informal Communication Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Formal Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Organizing an Early Language and Communication Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Considerations for Infants With Culturally/Linguistically Diverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Backgrounds
ECI Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Use of Daily Routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Telehealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Record Keeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Intervention Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Natural Settings and Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Culturally Responsive Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
A Hybrid Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Intervention for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Augmentative and Alternative Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Types of AAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Evidence-Based Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
AAC Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

CHAPTER 5. ASSESSMENT OF PRESCHOOL AND SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN WITH 157


LANGUAGE DISORDERS

Psychometric Versus Descriptive Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160


Normalist Assessment Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Descriptive Assessment Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
An Integrated Functional Assessment Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Referral, Screening, Questionnaire, and Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Formal Language Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

vii
Assessment of Related Cognitive Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Dynamic Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

CHAPTER 6. LANGUAGE SAMPLING 195

Extent of Language Sampling Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196


Planning a Language Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Representativeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Language Sampling Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Collecting a Language Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Conversational Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Narrative Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Recording the Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Collecting Samples of Written Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Transcribing the Oral Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Utterances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

CHAPTER 7. LANGUAGE SAMPLE ANALYSIS 231

Levels of Language Sample Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232


Communication Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Across Utterances and Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Within Utterances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Narrative Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Macrostructure Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Microstructure Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Reliability and Validity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Computer-Assisted Language Sample Analysis (CLSA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

CHAPTER 8. ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN FROM CULTURALLY AND LINGUISTICALLY 305


DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS

Difference or Disorder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306


State of Service Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Lack of Academic Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Unfamiliarity With Different Languages and Cultures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

viii
Lack of Appropriate Assessment Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Language Assessment of a Child Who Is an ELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Who Are ELLs? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Importance of Accurate Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Overcoming Bias in Assessment of ELLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
An Integrated Model for Assessment for ELLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Language Assessment of Children Speaking NMAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Careful Use of Standardized Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Alternative Assessment Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Model of Language Assessment of a Child Who Speaks NMAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

CHAPTER 9. A FUNCTIONAL INTERVENTION MODEL 355

Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Be a Reinforcer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Closely Approximate Natural Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Follow Developmental Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Follow the Child’s Lead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Actively Involve the Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Remember the Influence of Context on Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Use the Scripts Found in Familiar Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Design a Generalization Plan First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Generalization Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Teaching Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Teaching Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Method of Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
Language Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
Teaching Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Contingencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

CHAPTER 10. MANIPULATING CONTEXT 385

Nonlinguistic Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386


Linguistic Contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Exposure to Grammatical Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Explicit Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391

ix
Conversational Milieu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Conversations: Top-Down Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

CHAPTER 11. SPECIFIC INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES 417

Cognitive Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418


Information Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Pragmatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Social Skills and Autism Spectrum Disorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Intentions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Conversational Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Narration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Vocabulary and Word Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Semantic Categories and Relational Webs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Word Retrieval and Categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
Comprehension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
Figurative Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
Verbal Working Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Syntax and Morphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
Morphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
Word Order and Sentence Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
Children With CLD Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
Use of Microcomputers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

CHAPTER 12. CLASSROOM FUNCTIONAL INTERVENTION 495

Background and Rationale: Recent Educational Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497


Common Core State Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Response to Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
Inclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
Collaborative Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Relating to Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Language Intervention and Language Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
Elements of a Classroom Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
Identification of Children at Risk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
Curriculum-Based Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
CBLI Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

x
Classroom Demands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Instructional Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
Linguistic Awareness Intervention Within the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
Preschool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
School-Age and Adolescent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Language Facilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Classroom Language Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Talking With Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
Classroom Support for Children With Working Memory Deficits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Instituting a Classroom Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547

CHAPTER 13. LITERACY IMPAIRMENTS: LANGUAGE IN A VISUAL MODE 549

Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Reading Comprehension and Inferencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Reading Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
Children With Culturally Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
Reading and Language Disorders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Contribution of Linguistic Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Deficits in Comprehension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Deficits in Inferencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
Dyslexia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Assessment of Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
Assessment of Phonological Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Assessment of Morphological Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
Assessment of Comprehension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
Early Assessment of Dyslexia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570
Reading Assessment for Children With ASD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
Language-Based Reading Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Early Literacy Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Preschool Emerging Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
School-Age Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
Writing Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
Assessment of Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
Data Collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
Data Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
Spelling Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
Language-Based Writing Intervention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605

xi
Extended Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605
Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609
Sentence Construction and Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613

Afterword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Appendices
A. Formal Language Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
B. SUGAR (Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revised) . . . . . . . . . . 621
Procedures
C. Comparison of Computer-Based Language Sample Analysis Methods . . . . . . . 629
D. Selected English Morphological Prefixes and Suffixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633
E. Non-Majority American English Dialects and English Influenced by . . . . . . . 635
Other Languages
F. Indirect Elicitation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 641
G. Intervention Activities and Language Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
H. Use of Children’s Literature in Preschool Classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 657
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735

xii
Preface

T
he seventh edition of Language Disorders: A Functional Approach to Assessment
and Intervention in Children is a special treat for me because I have joined a new
publisher, Plural Publishing. I must admit that I was cautious but have found
Plural to be welcoming and supportive. It already feels like home.
As with previous editions, this one is an exhaustive compilation of hundreds of
professional studies conducted by my colleagues in the field. To this, I’ve added my own
scholarly and clinical work in speech-language pathology with both presymbolic and
symbolic children with language disorders.
When I was a student, my academic department was called Speech and Hearing
Disorders. There was no language. I’m thankful for the pioneers and for my contempo-
raries who have brought the field of language disorders into its maturity.
The subtitle for the text is “a functional approach.” This approach goes by other
names, such as environmental or conversational, and includes elements of several other
models. Where I have borrowed someone’s model, ideas, or techniques, full credit is
given to that person. I find assessment and intervention to be an adaptation of a little
of this and a little of that within an overall theoretical framework.
Readers should read this text with my biases in mind. I do not approach language
intervention as I might teaching arithmetic. One plus one may always be two, regard-
less of the context, but “May I have a cookie, please” only works when we consider the
context. And that’s my point, teaching language is different.
Context is essential to assessment and intervention with language. Now you can stop
reading this book. You’ve got it all.
I’ve made some content decisions that should be explained. I group all children
with language problems, both delays and disorders, under the general rubric of language
disorders. This expedient decision was made recognizing that this text would not be
addressing specific disorder populations except where applicable. In general, we address
the generic child with a language disorder.
I hope you’ll be pleased with this edition. Professors who’ve used previous editions
will notice some new additions and changes in emphasis. These are based on professional
feedback, reviewers’ comments, student input, and the changing nature of speech and
language services. Here is a partial list of updates and modifications:

● The text is thoroughly updated with the addition of several hundred new sources.
This is the result of many hours of reading or perusing journal articles. In all
honesty, I also looked at some other texts on this topic to see how the authors
organized and explained language disorders.
● You’ll find greater emphasis on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in view of the
increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with this disorder.

xiii
● I’ve added a whole new section on developmental language disorders (DLD), a
new and more inclusive term than those used before. These children have always
been with us but under a variety of different names.
● Chapter 2 of the previous edition has been divided into two chapters to
accommodate the new information we have on language disorders. In this
volume, Chapter 2 focuses solely on language disorders, such as DLD, and
Chapter 3 focuses on language disorders associated with other disorders, such
as ASD.
● I’ve gathered together the various discussions of assessment with children with
culturally linguistically diverse backgrounds into a beefier chapter, giving this
discussion its rightful place. I’m thrilled by the increasingly diverse nature of
U.S. society and believe it’s essential that we serve those children who need our
services to the best of our ability.
● Fortunately, the number of meta-analyses focusing on the best evidence-based
practices continues to increase, enabling us to say more on evidence-based
practice. Wherever I’ve been able to find these professional articles, I have
incorporated their results, even when they don’t conform to what I might
believe. That’s how we learn and grow, isn’t it?
● The chapters on language and narrative analysis have been strengthened and
consolidated into one. Since the last edition, I’ve devoted myself, with the expert
help of Stacey Pavelko, PhD, to development of SUGAR (Sampling Utterances
and Grammatical Analysis Revised), an easy, valid, diagnostically accurate, and
totally cost-free language sample analysis tool. This development enabled me to
discuss SUGAR in a text for the first time. As much as possible, I’ve attempted
to give other methods their due and to tone down my enthusiasm for my own
work. Still, I invite you to visit sugarlanguage.org and see for yourself. We keep
updating our development and research, so check back often.

I hope you are pleased with the results and will find this text useful.
Those who use the methods found within these pages tell me that they and their
clients find them to be useful, effective, adaptable, and fun. Time will tell if you agree.

xiv
Other documents randomly have
different content
CHAPTER VII
A HURRIED EXIT

While a fire is always a dangerous and alarming matter in a big


shop or a factory, that contingency has been thought of and plans
made to meet the emergency. It was this way in the shops of the
Swift Construction Company. They had organized a fire-fighting
force, and in each shop there was a reel of hose in addition to
several chemical extinguishers, the result of Tom’s own inventive
genius.
Besides this, a series of whistle alarms had been worked out; a
certain number of blasts on the big steam siren giving the location of
the blaze. And it was the booming out of this whistle that now sent
out the alarm.
“Come on, Ned!” Tom cried.
Mr. Newton, dropping his books, ran with the young men.
“It’s in the pattern shop, all right!” cried Tom as he sped along. “I
hope it doesn’t get to those new models Barsky has been working on
for my train-stopping device. He’s got some of my original drawings
out there.”
Every one connected with the Swift enterprises knew the menace
of fire, and when that whistle blew every man and boy dropped what
he was doing and rushed to the location of the blaze.
Eradicate was driving an old horse hitched to a cultivator in the
garden, and when he heard the whistle the old colored man slapped
the reins down on his animal’s back and shouted:
“G’lang! Git a move on! We’s got to help put out dat fiah!”
But it was impossible to get up any speed with a cultivator, the
pointed teeth of which bit deep into the earth as the old horse started
forward under the urge of voice and flapping reins. Seeing that he
was likely to be held there in the garden, Rad hastily unhitched the
horse, leaped on its back, and then, with the traces flapping and
jingling, rode to the scene of the blaze.
Koku, when he was not using his great strength to advantage at
the works, employed himself about the Swift house and grounds. He
happened to be watering the lawn just when the fire whistle blew.
“Ho! Me got just the t’ing for fire!” cried Koku. “Take squirty hose
to ’um an’ put ’um out!”
Off he started on a run, but was soon brought to a standstill when
he reached the limits of the hose which was screwed fast to a faucet.
But a little thing like this did not bother the giant.
“You no come I make you come!” he cried.
Exerting but a little of his terrible strength, Koku gave one yank
on the hose. It parted. Then, with one end dangling in his big hands
while the other end, from which the water was still spurting, was
attached to the faucet, the giant ran to the fire with the useless bit of
rubber.
It happened that Eradicate and Koku reached the pattern shop at
the same time, the giant with his hose and the colored man on his
horse.
“I put out fire!” yelled the giant. “See! I bring hose!”
And then for the first time he seemed to realize that in pulling the
hose apart he had cut himself off from the supply of water. A queer,
blank look came over his face.
“Hose he come with me—water no come!” murmured the giant.
“Golly! Ef dat ain’t jest like de big booby!” chuckled Eradicate.
“Dat’s about all de sense he’s got!”
It was Eradicate’s triumph, for Koku was completely
flabbergasted by pulling the hose in twain and did not have a word to
say.
However, this was only a side issue. Before Tom’s two jealous
servants had arrived some men in the pattern shop had already
unreeled the fire hose there and a stream was playing on the blaze,
while others came up, some with a portable chemical extinguisher on
wheels—a powerful fire-fighting engine—and a little stream from this
served to end all danger.
Tom directed the work of his men, and had the satisfaction of
seeing the danger rapidly pass. The blaze was in a pile of wood and
other refuse in the pattern shop, and little real damage was done.
“Well, we came out of that rather better than I expected,”
remarked Tom, as he stood with Ned and Mr. Newton surveying the
still smoking interior of the pattern shop.
“I should say so!” agreed the manager, for well he knew that it
needed but a small blaze to destroy many valuable patterns.
“What is it, Tom?” asked Mr. Swift, as he came up as fast as he
could, having heard the alarm of fire.
“All over—nothing worth worrying about,” Tom answered. “Fifty
dollars will cover our loss, and we’ve got insurance on everything.”
Mr. Swift looked in, to make sure just what had happened, and
asked a few questions, to one of which a man replied:
“Yes, the fire started near where that new fellow was working.”
“You mean that Russian, Barsky?” asked Mr. Swift sharply.
“I think that’s his name,” the man replied. “We call him Whiskers
in the shop.”
“There, Tom, I told you not to hire that man!” said the young
inventor’s father in a low voice.
“But he had nothing to do with the fire, Dad,” explained Tom. “He
wasn’t even near when it happened. I inquired about that. The thing
happened because a plumber’s blow torch which one of the men
was using to burn off some stuff overturned when a pulley broke and
fell on it. Nobody’s fault at all. It was just one of those accidents you
can never foresee. No one knew the pulley was split. The man using
the blow torch had taken all precautions, but he couldn’t count on a
pulley falling on it from above. And Barsky wasn’t even there.”
“Um! Well, I don’t like him just the same,” said Mr. Swift.
“I guess it’s all over,” remarked Ned to his chum when it was
seen that the last, smouldering spark was out.
“Yes,” agreed Tom. “I must get back to my desk. I want to finish
those computations by noon if I can, for I have to go to Mansburg
this afternoon.”
“I’d better check up on this fire,” observed Ned. “There’ll have to
be a report made of it to the insurance company, small as the
damage was, and we’re entitled to a claim.”
“I’ll leave it to you,” returned Tom. “You’d better splice that hose,
Koku,” he said, with a smile. “And look out for your horse, Rad. He
might kick at some of the men. He’s a cross old beast.”
“He won’t lessen I tells him to. An’ they ain’t but one pusson I’d
like to hab him plant his hoofs on!” snorted the colored man.
“I think I can guess who that is,” remarked Ned, with a chuckle.
The men from the other shops dispersed to their several places,
the fire hose was reeled back into place, and Rad urged his horse
back to the garden cultivator. Koku, still staring in puzzled fashion at
the half length of broken hose in his hand, wandered back to his
post, murmuring:
“Hose, he come along ob me—water, he no come. How can do?”
Clearly it was a problem too deep for his brain.
Tom hurriedly entered his private office, his mind intent on many
things but chiefly concerned with a knotty problem in applying
sufficient force to a train to stop it and at the same time, doing no
damage to the passengers or to the tracks or the train.
“It’s got to be done with a recoil system, either of springs or
hydraulic pistons,” said the young inventor.
As he entered the room Tom was surprised to see the form of
Ivan Barsky, the new Russian pattern maker, making a hurried exit
from it by the rear.
For a moment the young man was too surprised to quite take in
the significance of the matter. As he slowly realized that strict orders
had been posted to the effect that none of the men from the shop
was to enter the private offices unbidden, Tom called:
“What were you doing in here?”
Sharp suspicion entered his mind.
Who was this foreigner and what was his game?
CHAPTER VIII
A SECRET LISTENER

Tom Swift, in a crisis, was not one to think first and act
afterward. Usually he did his acting first, and this was one of those
instances.
Like a flash of fire it ran through his mind that now was the best
time to ascertain what object the foreigner could have in breaking the
regulations and entering Tom’s private office.
With the end in view of settling the matter then and there, Tom
dashed across the room and out of the rear door by which Barsky
had left. The young inventor had a glimpse of the Russian hastening
along just ahead of him. He was making good time, too. But Tom
Swift, too, was a sprinter. In spite of all the machines for locomotion
that Tom had invented, he could still run.
He caught up to Ivan Barsky and seized that individual by the
arm.
“Hey! Wait a minute!” cried Tom, not very dramatically, perhaps,
but effectively.
“Eh? What eet iss?” The man seemed to hiss the words in his
peculiar way. There was a frightened look on his face and, also, one
of innocence, real or assumed. “You weesh to see me, Mr. Swift?”
asked Barsky.
“It might be the other way around,” announced Tom grimly as he
faced the man. “It rather looks as if you wanted to see me—going
into my office when I wasn’t there. Don’t you know that’s against the
rules?”
“Pardon—I did not know eet.”
“Well, it is! I’m telling you now! No one from the works allowed in
the private office without permission. Now, why did you go there—
especially when I was out fighting the fire, which was in your
department?”
“Fire? Yes, I hear the wheestle, but I see that so soon the fire he
is out so I cannot think that it to a great deal amounts. I hope none of
my new patterns were burned.” He seemed genuinely anxious on
this score.
“Luckily the fire was only in some rubbish,” explained Tom. “But
that has nothing to do with the fact that you were in my office in my
absence. What did you go there for?” and the voice of the young
inventor was stern.
“Oh—I my presence must explanation? Yes, of courseness. I go
there to get heem!”
He held up to Tom a complicated slide rule, often used in making
intricate computations that, otherwise, would entail much work at
figures.
“I need these for that train stop pattern I am making for you, Mr.
Swift,” the man explained.
“Yes, I thought you would need that rule, and I intended sending
it out to you,” Tom said. “But you should not have gone to my office
to take it while I was absent.”
“Pardon! I did not know you were not at home. Also did I not
know of the prohibition against entering the office when you were not
in. I saw the rule—I need heem very much to make the pattern of
finished appearance. So I take the rule and hurry back to my bench.”
“You hurried all right—I’ll say that,” murmured Tom grimly.
“Yes—I am of a hurry kind. Most of us Russians are. Now that I
have of explanation made, eet is permit that I take these?” and he
again held up the rule.
“Oh, yes, I suppose so,” conceded Tom slowly. He could not say
anything else, it seemed. There was such an air of innocence about
the man that to break it down, if it were pretended, required better
evidence than Tom at this moment possessed.
Certainly Barsky had taken nothing more than the slide rule, and
he needed it in his work. Tom felt that the man should have had it
before, for it was the most essential tool. How then, could he find
fault with the foreigner for taking what, obviously, was within his
right? Of course he had broken a rule, but this might be overlooked.
So Tom had to say it was all right and let the matter go at that.
“Only don’t go into my office again without permission,”
concluded the young inventor.
“Naturally not—since you have told me,” said Barsky. “I shall
send word in advance of my veesit next time,” and with a bow he
took himself off.
“Hum,” mused Tom as he strolled back to his own quarters. “Now
was that sarcasm or not?”
He thought he was perhaps rather exaggerating the importance
of the incident, and was somewhat put out by the construction
Barsky might put on being thus reprimanded until Tom happened to
look in the room where the chest of secrets was kept.
Not only was this room open, but so, also, was the chest itself
and in plain view were a number of valuable plans and drawings.
“Hang it all!” exclaimed Tom. “I wonder if that chest was open
while Barsky was in here after that rule? It must have been. Some
one is getting careless; but as it may have been I who opened that
box and forgot to close it when the fire whistle blew, I’d better not say
anything about it. Ned or Mr. Newton might think I was hitting at him.
Yes, I’ve got to be more careful, with strange workmen about and
valuable new plans under way.”
Tom looked carefully over his chest of business secrets, and, as
far as he could ascertain, nothing had been disturbed. He knew in a
general way what was in the box.
“But I think the safest way to do,” he told, himself, “would be to
have Ned make a list of all the documents in there. Then we can
check them over from time to time. I’ll do that.”
So, without saying anything to his chum about the visit of Barsky,
Tom told the young manager to list all the documents in the chest
after attending to the fire insurance matter.
“We can’t be too careful of these invention papers,” remarked the
author of many of them.
“You’re dead right you can’t,” agreed Ned.
The fire was but a small incident in the day’s work at the Swift
plant. Fires in such a big shop were not at all uncommon; so matters
were soon running smoothly again.
During the next two or three days Tom paid several visits to the
pattern department, and each time he went there he found Barsky
busily at work, using the slide rule with an expertness that gave Tom
a good opinion of the fellow’s ability in his own line of work.
“I’m glad I hired him—that is, so far as getting what I wanted
done,” Tom said to his father. “He makes patterns better than any
man we ever had.”
“Yes, I have looked at some of the models he has turned out,” Mr.
Swift replied. “But I can’t get over a certain uneasy feeling when I am
near that man, Tom. It’s a sort of fear, I believe.”
“Nonsense!” laughed the young fellow. “You are imagining things,
Dad. Barsky is no ten-thousand-dollar beauty, I grant you that, for he
has enough hair and whiskers for a dozen sofa cushions. But we
aren’t running a beauty parlor, and he does do good work.”
“Yes, Tom. Well, I’ll leave it to you. It’s more in your department
than mine, anyhow. By the way, is there anything new in the case of
Mr. Newton? We must do all we can to help him.”
“We will, Dad. I don’t know that there are any new developments.
I’ll ask Ned. But Plum has orders to look after that case to the best of
his ability. Now I suppose you want to get back to your book, don’t
you?”
“If you don’t mind, Son,” answered Mr. Swift, with an anxious look
toward his desk which was littered with papers. The talk had taken
place in the older inventor’s private office.
“All right, I’ll leave you with your pet,” laughed Tom, for the new
book was Mr. Swift’s chief joy and pride. “But I’d like to have a talk
with you this evening, Dad.”
“By all means, Tom. I’ll be free then. Come and chat. But just now
I want to finish that chapter on hydraulics. I find it most fascinating,
and I am using some of the data you evolved when you built the big
submarine.”
“Yes, I fancy we discovered a new principle or two there,”
answered Tom, with justifiable pride. “And you’re welcome to quote
me at any length you wish, Dad,” he finished, with a laugh.
“All right!” chuckled the old inventor. “You’re somewhat of an
authority, Tom, on a few subjects.”
Mr. Swift plunged into his literary work before Tom had reached
the door on his way out, so eager was he to resume work on his
book, and Tom was glad his father had something of this sort to
interest him and give him an object in the declining years of his life.
“Tom, what say, we go to a ball game this afternoon?” suggested
Ned when the young inventor returned to his office. “It’s too nice a
day to work.”
Tom glanced out at the sunlight dancing over the green grass. He
looked at his paper-laden desk and then at the clock.
“Ned,” he suddenly exclaimed, “I’m with you! And if you weren’t
already drawing a bigger salary than you’ll ever be worth, I’d give
you an advance for the valuable suggestion. How about you, Mr.
Newton? Will you come to the game?” he went on, thinking to take
the man’s mind from his trouble over the missing Liberty Bonds.
“Thank you, Tom, no. There are a few things I want to get
straightened out on my books.”
“Better let them go for a time,” suggested Tom. “You’ll do better
work afterward. That’s the way I feel about it. I’m in a sort of maze on
this train-stop device. I’m up against a stone wall. So I’m going to a
ball game and I order you two to come with me!”
“Oh, if it’s an order from the boss—that’s another matter,”
laughed Mr. Newton. So, Tom, having seen to it that his chest of
secrets was securely locked, brought around the electric runabout
and all three went to the ball game.
“Is there anything new in your case, Mr. Newton?” asked Tom, as
they sat in the grandstand, watching the players warm up.
“No, Tom, not a thing. I am leaving everything to Mr. Plum, as you
suggested. He hasn’t reported anything new.”
“Has that fellow, Fawn, or any of the firm pestered you about the
missing bonds?”
“No. But Fawn sneers every time he sees me. I fancy he is much
put out that I am not in jail.”
“You needn’t worry about that,” laughed Ned, though in his heart
he keenly felt the disgrace that had come to his father.
“Is this seat taken?” asked a young lady’s voice behind Tom, and
he turned to look into the smiling face of Mary Nestor.
“Of course not!” he exclaimed, rising, as did his two companions.
“Always room for one more. I didn’t expect to see you here, Mary,”
the young inventor added.
“And you didn’t think of inviting me, I suppose,” said Mary
demurely. “I think I will sit by Ned.”
“If you do I’ll discharge him, and then he won’t like you,” said
Tom, as he made room beside himself for the girl to whom he was
engaged. “I’m awfully glad you’re here. We came in such a hurry—
on the inspiration of a spontaneous suggestion by Ned—that I never
thought to ’phone over and see if you wanted to come.”
“Oh, all right—I’ll forgive you!” the girl laughed.
But there was a quick exchange of looks between Mary and Ned.
In fact, Mary had suggested privately to Ned that he bring Tom to the
game, as she intended to meet him there. Often it was necessary to
use a ruse to get Tom away from his absorbing work of inventing
things.
However, here he was, and soon he was enjoying the game with
his friends. It was not much in the way of a ball contest, but it served
to pass away the afternoon and change the current of all their
thoughts.
That evening after supper, Tom and his father drew their chairs
together in the living room for one of their old-time chats. Mr. Swift
was in a pleasant mood, for he had done some work on his book that
afternoon which gratified him very much and about which he was
enthusiastic.
“Tom, how are things going?” he asked his son.
“Very nicely, indeed,” was the answer. “Of course, I am not
making as much progress as I’d like to on that train-stop device, but
it will come. And when it does, I think it will be worth good money to
us.”
“Yes, that, and some of the other inventions we have under way,
will be worth sixty thousand dollars, I think, when they are
completed.”
“Well, that estimate may be a bit high,” returned Tom slowly.
“No!” protested his father. “I put it low. I think they’ll run over sixty
thousand dollars. Why, that mill machinery idea of yours——”
“Hark!” exclaimed Tom softly, holding up a hand to caution
silence.
“What is it?” asked his father.
“I heard some sort of a noise outside on the porch.”
Tom arose to go toward one of the windows, the shades of which
were drawn down. But before he reached the casement Eradicate
came hurrying into the room, very much excited.
“What’s the matter, Rad?” asked Tom quickly.
“Somebody on de piazzy listenin’ at de window!” exclaimed the
colored man. “I jest been to see dat de henhouse was locked up, an’
I done seen somebody on piazzy! I runs up, but he runs away an’ I
didn’t cotch him! But dey was somebody listenin’!”
CHAPTER IX
MARY’S MESSAGE

Once again Tom Swift had occasion to act quickly, as he had


when he discovered Barsky in his private office. Without waiting to
question Eradicate, the young inventor made a dash for the door. A
moment later he was outside, looking for a sign or trace of the
mysterious intruder.
But the night was dark, there was no moon; and Tom, coming
from a lighted room, was at a greater disadvantage than otherwise
would have been the case. It was not until several seconds had
passed that the young man could make out objects in the gloom, and
none of these objects was the unknown person he sought.
Still Tom was not going to give up so easily. He shouted to Koku,
and when the giant joined him and when Eradicate had come
shuffling out the three began a hurried search around the house for
the secret listener.
“Well, I guess he got away,” sighed Tom. He was greatly
disappointed when it was evident that no one was to be caught.
“He suah has,” agreed Eradicate.
“What sort of man was it?” asked Tom. “I suppose it was a man,
Rad, and not a woman?”
“Oh, yes, Massa Tom! It suah was a man aw right! An’ he was a
sorta big man, but stoopin’ ober like, leanin’ down an’ tryin’ to look
under de window shade.”
“Why didn’t you jump on him, Rad?”
“Dat’s jest what I was tryin’ to sneak up an’ do, Massa Tom. But I
done sneezed jest when I got by de piazzy, an’ he done hears me
an’ jumps away.”
“By golly! I cotch him ef I been dar!” cried the giant. “I take ’um in
my two hands—so. I squoze ’urn—so!”
Truly there would have been but little chance for the trespasser
had Koku got his hands on him.
“Ha! Ha!” chuckled Eradicate. “He go so fast, Giant, dat he make
you look like a worm crawlin’ along!”
The giant was not very fast in his movements, and he realized
this. Still he did not like to be taunted about this failing, and he now
made a reach for Eradicate, who, however, easily eluded his enemy.
“Come now! None of that!” ordered Tom sharply. “I guess this
fellow, whoever he was, might have been only a tramp. Take a stroll
around for a while, Koku, and see if he comes back.”
“Sure, Master, I watch.”
“An’ I’ll be on the lookout, too,” offered Eradicate.
“Look around, both of you, and don’t scrap. Do you hear? Don’t
scrap between yourselves. I’m getting tired of it!”
“I be good to Rad, Master,” promised the giant.
“Huh! You better, ef you all knows whut good fo’ you!” chuckled
the colored man.
Tom went back to his father, finding the old gentleman somewhat
nervous and upset.
“What was it, Son?” he inquired.
“Oh, just some tramp, I think,” replied the lad easily. But in his
own mind he was disturbed by the incident.
“I wonder if that was Barsky or some of our old enemies?” mused
Tom to himself, when he had gone to his own room after some
further talk with his father concerning the various inventions and
patents. “There’s always a chance of some of the old gang trying
some of their tricks.
“But what object could any one have in listening to the talk
between dad and me? We only mentioned generalities, and what we
said would have been of no value to any one. Still, whoever was
listening didn’t know that. They may have hoped to pick up some
information that could be used against us.”
But though he was worried and a bit apprehensive, Tom did not
dwell long on this phase of the matter. He knew it would do little, if
any, good.
Still he was not so foolish as to omit all precautions, and a little
later he went outside to see if Koku or Eradicate had seen any
further signs of the intruder.
Both the giant and the colored man reported that they had seen
no one, and Tom sent them to bed, after giving orders to see that the
house was well locked for the night.
The shops, some distance away, were well guarded by
watchmen, as well as by a system of electrical burglar alarms, a bell
of which was set up in Tom’s room. No one could get in or over the
high fence which surrounded the works without disclosing his
presence.
Tom was a little apprehensive that in the night the alarm bell
might ring, telling him that some one was trying to sneak into the
factory. However, the hours of darkness passed uneventfully and
with the coming of morning Tom’s fears passed away.
He went out to look around the porch on which the mysterious
listener had crouched beneath the window, but there were no clews
that he could follow.
“I’ll just have to let things take their course,” decided Tom. He
reported the matter to Ned, as he generally did in such cases.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Ned cheerfully.
“I’m not,” declared Tom, but his manager could see that he was
and that he could not get his mind down to work. At last Tom himself
became aware of his nervous condition, and shortly after noon,
throwing his pencil down on his desk, he exclaimed:
“I’m going out for a ride, Ned. Come along. It will clear the
cobwebs out of our brains.”
“Going in the runabout?” asked Ned.
“No, in the little biplane. She’s just been tuned up and runs like a
sewing machine. We’ll take a spin up in the clouds.”
Ned considered for a moment, looked at a mass of papers on his
desk, and answered:
“No, thank you, I’d better not go. Besides, Mr. Plum just
telephoned that he’d like to see me about dad’s case, and I want to
run over there.”
“All right,” agreed Tom. “Take all the time you want, Ned. But I
don’t want to go skylarking alone. I think I’ll ’phone Mary. I haven’t
had her up in the biplane for some time.”
“Yes, you and Mary go for a spin,” replied Ned. “Only take care
that it isn’t a tail-spin.”
“The Hummer doesn’t indulge in such antics,” replied Tom, with a
laugh. “But first I’d better see if she’ll tune up as she did the other
day. I don’t want to get Mary out in her and then have something go
wrong. I’ll just run her out, Ned, and give her a warming up. Then, if
everything’s all right, I’ll call Mary. You can look after things here, I
suppose?”
“Yes, either dad or I will. He’ll be back soon, and then I’ll take a
run over to Plum’s office.”
Tom owned several planes, but of the two-winged variety the one
he best liked was the Hummer, a small but speedy craft. This
machine was kept in a hanger near the flying field, and it did not take
the young inventor long to have her run out that he might test the
engine.
“She sure sounds sweet, Mr. Swift,” remarked the mechanician
who assisted him.
“Yes, Dirk, she’s throbbing like a wild duck. I guess I’ll take her up
for a time.”
Going back to the office Tom reported to Ned that everything
about the Hummer was in good shape and that he would probably
be gone for the remainder of the day. As there was no good landing
place near the home of Mary Nestor it was necessary for her to
come to Tom’s flying field, and while he was getting ready he sent
one of his men for the young lady in an automobile. But first Tom
called her on the telephone.
“Oh, Tom!” exclaimed Mary, as soon as she found who was on
the wire, “I was just going to call you up!”
“You were?”
“Yes, it’s awfully important! I want to see you very much!”
“Well, you’ll have that pleasure directly.”
“Oh, Tom, don’t joke about it! It is important.”
“What’s the trouble, Mary,” the young inventor asked, seriously
enough now.
“I’ll tell you when I see you—soon!”
Tom told the girl of the proposed trip and Mary hung up the
receiver while Tom wondered at the note of anxiety in his
sweetheart’s message.
CHAPTER X
A QUEER STORY

The young inventor was out at the flying field in his air togs going
over every detail of his machine when Mary Nestor arrived in the
auto driven by a messenger Tom often employed.
“Hello!” called the girl, as she leaped out of the car. She, too,
wore a leather flying suit, for Tom had told her to put it on.
“Hello,” responded Tom. “All ready?”
“Yes. But I want to talk to you, and we can’t do it very well with
the engine going. It makes such a noise.”
“This one doesn’t make as much racket as some do, for I’ve got a
muffler on her,” Tom replied. “But still you can’t exactly carry on a
whispered conversation in the Hummer.”
“This conversation is going to be—well rather private,” returned
Mary in a low voice, with a glance toward the man who had brought
her over in the car.
“We might start off, land in some lonely field, and talk there,” Tom
suggested. “I could throttle down the engine just enough to keep her
turning over, and yet not running enough to make the plane even
taxi.”
“Why can’t you do that here?” asked Mary. “I want to tell you what
I have to say, Tom, at once, as you might want to act on it.”
“Well, I can have him turn the propellers and get her started,”
answered the youth, with a glance at his helper. “Then, with the
engine idling, you can tell me the story while he goes back in the
auto.”
“Do that,” suggested the girl. “I want to get it off my mind.”
Accordingly, while Tom vainly wondered what his sweetheart
could have to say to him of such importance, he took his place in the
forward cockpit, in charge of the control levers, while the man
stationed himself at the propellers.
The Hummer was comparatively easy to start. After the engine
had been turned over once or twice, with the accompanying coughs
and sighs, it started with a thundering roar that made the ground
throb. Tom let it run until it was well warmed up. Then, knowing it
would keep going at low speed without moving the plane, he
throttled the gas down, adjusted the spark, and signed for his helper
to leave.
“Now, Mary, I’m ready to hear your story,” he said as he walked
with his friend a short distance away from the Hummer.
“It’s a queer story,” said the girl. “And as soon as I heard it I
started to call you on the ’phone. I was just going to take down the
receiver when you called me.”
“When did you hear this—whatever it is?” asked Tom, who was
becoming more and more mystified by Mary’s evident concern.
“Just this morning,” she answered. “I was over in Mansburg doing
some early shopping with Kate Borden. Shopping always makes me
terribly hungry, as it does Kate, so about noon we went into a small
restaurant for lunch.”
“And I suppose you had mislaid your money and couldn’t pay,
and you had to blush and ask the manager to trust you, and now you
want to go there in the plane and settle your debts. Is that it?” asked
Tom, with a laugh.
“No, and if you make any more fun of me I sha’n’t tell you a thing!
So there, Tom Swift!” and Mary pouted bewitchingly.
“Mercy! I’ll be good!” he promised.
His sense of humor was rudely shaken a moment later as Mary
went on:
“While Kate and I were eating our lunch three men were eating at
the next table—eating and talking. We didn’t purposely listen—that
is, not until after I heard one of them mention the Swift Construction
Company. But then, as you can imagine, Tom, I was all ears. I
shamelessly listened after that, and though I didn’t hear all that was
said I caught enough to know that they were talking about something
like a tidal engine. Is there any such thing, Tom?”
“Is there, Mary? I should say there is! It’s one of my latest and
best inventions! I believe I can harness the ocean with it—at least, a
part of the tide. But go on—what did they say about the tidal
engine?”
“One of the men seemed angry that you hadn’t sold it to them. He
spoke of Mr. Damon and said it was too bad—or words to that effect
—that Mr. Damon’s negotiations had fallen through.”
“Go on,” urged Tom, as Mary hesitated a moment. “This is
interesting, and it may be vitally important. Go on!”
“Then they spoke something about mill machinery,” resumed the
girl. “I couldn’t get that very plainly—I don’t know much about
mechanics—but they spoke of a turbine grinder. Is that right?”
“That’s right!” exclaimed Tom. “But it will be all wrong if they get
on to any of my plans in that respect. I’m mighty glad you listened to
this talk, Mary! Who were the men—I mean what did they look like?”
“I’ll describe them to you as well as I can. I had never seen any of
them before, as far as I know. The whole trend of the conversation
was to the effect that they had tried unsuccessfully, through Mr.
Damon, to get you or your father to sell them some or all of the rights
in these inventions. Is that the case?”
“Yes. Mr. Damon came to me some time ago—the day he landed
on the roof in his little plane—and wanted me to consider
negotiations. But I sent word by him to these fellows, who were
represented by Mr. Blythe, not to bother, for I wasn’t in the market.”
“I didn’t hear Mr. Blythe’s name mentioned,” said Mary, knitting
her forehead into a series of wrinkles as she tried to recall all the
details of the affair. “But there was some one whose name began
with B—let me see—I wrote it down.”
She fumbled in her pocket and brought out a slip of paper on
which she had written one word—Blodgett.
“That’s the man, Tom,” she said. “Mr. Blodgett. One of the three
who were talking near our table remarked: ‘Never mind. I think
Blodgett will fix it.’ Those were the words he used.”
“Hum,” mused Tom. “Blodgett—and he will fix it. Fix what, I
wonder?”
“That I can’t say,” answered Mary, for Tom had spoken aloud.
“Right after one of the men said that, all three went out. I didn’t know
what to do. I kept wishing you had been there. But I made up my
mind I’d tell you about it as soon as I could.”
“Yes, Mary. Thanks! I’m glad you did. It’s all a mystery to me.”
“What do you think it means?”
“That would be hard to say. I’ll have to admit I’m a bit worried
about it, in view of several things that have happened at the shop
lately.”
“Oh, Tom do you think there is any danger?”
“No more than usual. There’s always danger when you have
rivals. But I never heard of this Blodgett that I know of. As for the
other matters: As I said, Mr. Damon opened the subject but I told him
to head off any visit of the men to me, for I wouldn’t do business with
them. And from the fact that they haven’t called on me, I took it that
they had dropped the matter.”
“It doesn’t seem so, though, does it?” asked Mary.
“I should say not! I don’t like this at all!” Tom seemed anxious and
upset over the matter. “And what I particularly don’t like is the way
they said Blodgett would fix it. Is that the word they used?”
“Yes. It was ‘fix,’ I’m sure of it.”
“Smacks of desperation,” commented Tom. “I wonder if the owner
of the restaurant would know those men, Mary?”
“He might.”
“Then I’m going to drop in and have a talk with him. Give me the
address. Oh, I don’t mean I’m going to drop in off the Hummer and
let you run the machine alone,” he went on with a laugh, as he saw
Mary’s momentary gasp of surprise. “I’ll go over and see him to-
morrow. Just now we’ll go for a ride. I need a little free breathing
space in the upper air.”
“Yes, it’s a wonderful day for a ride, Tom. And there’s no sign at
all of rain.”
“We need rain, too,” said the young inventor. “The woods and
fields are as dry as tinder. If a forest fire should start now it would do
a lot of damage. But as long as it hasn’t rained for some time, we’ll
hope it will hold off until we get back from our spin. Come on—let’s
go!”
CHAPTER XI
A DOUBLE PERIL

With a roar the motor accepted the additional gas Tom turned
into the cylinders, and a moment later the little plane began to move
over the smooth surface of the field. Gathering speed, the Hummer
slowly rose as the young inventor depressed the horizontal rudder,
and a moment later up rose the machine like some creature of life—
up and up toward the clouds.
“This is glorious!” cried Mary, thrilled by the sensation. Riding in a
plane was not new to her, but she never failed to get a sense of
exhilaration out of even a short spin in the air.
“Not so bad,” answered Tom.
By raising their voices slightly they could make themselves
audible to one another, for, as the young man had said, there was a
silencer, or muffler, on his engine.
“It makes one forget all their trouble,” called out Mary, as she
looked over the side of the rear cockpit where she sat strapped in
and glanced down at the earth rapidly dropping away below them.
“Yes, it does,” assented Tom. “That’s one reason I wanted to
come out to-day—to get rid of some of the cobwebs.”
“And are they being brushed away?” asked Mary.
“Almost all gone!” he laughed, as he sent the Hummer up at a
little steeper angle to gain a higher altitude more quickly.
The two young people gave themselves up to the thrill and
revivifying influence of clear, pure, sunlit air. Deeply they breathed in
of the life-giving particles, and the cheeks of Tom and Mary were
ruddy with renewed health.
With no special object in view, they spun on through the air, now
going up until they were above some low-lying clouds and again
dipping down to view with pleasure the contour of some wonderful,
green valley.
“Getting tired, Mary?” called Tom, after a while.
“No!” she called back to him. “I could go on like this forever.”
“Guess I’ll have to invent some new kind of machine if you want
to do anything like that,” the youth countered.

You might also like