Multilingual Perspectives on Child Language Disorders

Janet L. Patterson is Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has worked in the field for over 35 years and her research interests include bilingual language development and assessment and dynamic assessment.Barbara L. Rodríguez is Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her research interests include bilingual language acquisition and assessment.

• ContributorsAcknowledgments1. Janet L. Patterson: Child Language Disorders Across Languages, Cultural Contexts, and Syndromes          Section 1 Language Disorders in Specific Clinical Populations2. Stefka H. Marinova-Todd and Pat Mirenda: Language and Communication Abilities of Bilingual Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders3. Elizabeth Kay-Raining Bird: Bilingualism and Children with Down Syndrome   4. John Thorne and Truman Coggins: Communication in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Impairment and Intervention5. Vesna Stojanovik: Multilingual Perspectives on Language in Children with Williams SyndromeSection 2 Language Disorders in Specific Languages 6. Carol To: Language Disorders in Cantonese-Speaking Children7. Jane Stokes and Nita Madhani: Perspectives on Working with Preschool Children from Panjabi, Gujarati, and Bengali Speaking Families8. Elin Thordardottir: Typical Language Development and Primary Language Impairment in Monolingual French-Speaking Children9. Seyhun Topbaş and Ilknur Maviş: Comparing Measures of Spontaneous Speech of Turkish Speaking Children With and Without Language Impairment10. Barbara L. Rodríguez: Linguistic Variation and Assessment Implications for Spanish-Speaking Children in the United States

The authors offer needed analysis of a variety of languages and unique multilingual perspectives for some of the most prevalent child language disorders. This approach simultaneously widens our perspective and sharpens our understanding of how to better serve the child and the family sitting before us seeking our insight and guidance. I plan to use it in my classes.