Language Disorders in Children: Fundamental Concepts of Assessment and Intervention, Third Edition

Now published by Plural, this modernized third edition of Language Disorders in Children: Fundamental Concepts of Assessment and Intervention offers a comprehensive overview of language disorders in children for speech-language pathology students. The expert authors bring together decades of clinical experience and pedagogical expertise to create a comprehensive resource with instructional strategies and clinical applications, enhanced with numerous activities, discussions, and case studies that promote critical thinking. This edition introduces a groundbreaking model that utilizes a story-based approach to explain the dimensions of choosing and developing interventions. This method engages students in a thought experiment that illuminates the nuances of clinical decision-making, particularly for children with developmental language disorder, autism, and other developmental disabilities. The book revisits and expands upon the well-regarded five communication subdomains framework, providing a clear and structured approach to understanding language development from early pragmatic skills to advanced discourse. 

New to the Third Edition

• New coauthor, Victoria S. Henbest, PhD, CCC-SLP  
• A color layout with refreshed illustrations to enhance visual comprehension
• Increased emphasis on multicultural considerations in assessment and treatment of child language disorders
• Added content on the use of technology in clinical practice
• Additional class activities and discussions to facilitate clinical thinking skills
• Updated ancillary resources for instructor and students 

Key Features

• A two-step approach to language sample analysis is presented with clarifying case studies, figures, and directions for completing a language sample 
• Chapter overview questions at the beginning of chapters serve as a road map for students
• QR codes direct readers to helpful video clips and web resources
• Boxed focus points effectively communicate the most crucial aspects of the text
• Bolded key terms and a comprehensive glossary help improve retention of the material
• Case studies and discussion and in-class activities encourage students to delve deeper into the material 
• Concise chapter summaries end each chapter to reinforce key takeways
• Appendices containing valuable supplementary materials such as worksheets, case studies, language analyses guides, standard score interpretation tutorial, and assessment reports

Joan N. Kaderavek is a Distinguished University Professor (Emeritus) at the University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio. She currently lives in Pensacola, Florida. She is a Fellow of the American Speech- Language-Hearing Association. She received her bachelor’s degree from Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), her master’s degree from the Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio), her doctoral degree from Bowling Green State University (Bowling Green, Ohio), and completed a NIH-funded post-doctoral fellowship focusing on children’s early literacy development at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan). Kaderavek worked as a clinician and as the Director of Speech-Language Pathology Services at the Toledo Hearing and Speech Center for 10 years, prior to her doctoral education. During her academic career, Dr. Kaderavek taught over 30 different courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level within the fields of speech-language pathology, early childhood education, and special education. She has published numerous book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, and presented both at the national and international level. She has served as a co-principal investigator on multiple nationally-funded multi-million dollar research projects, in the areas of early literacy development and early childhood science education. Her work within the field of science education has developed her expertise in training teachers to use pedagogical practices facilitating students’ high-level, critical thinking.

Victoria S. Henbest is an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist and assistant professor in the Speech Pathology and Audiology Department at the University of South Alabama where she teaches the undergraduate introductory courses on language and speech disorders as well as the graduate-level school-age language and literacy and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) courses. Dr. Henbest earned a Bachelor of Science in Education in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Arkansas, a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Missouri State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina. Prior to earning her doctoral degree, Dr. Henbest worked for 5 years as a full-time clinician in a public-school early childhood setting with pre-school age children with speech, language, and literacy needs including children on the autism spectrum, those with intellectual disabilities, and medically complex children. Since joining the faculty at the University of South Alabama, Dr. Henbest’s clinical service provision has been through clinical education where she has supported graduate student clinicians with evaluation and intervention for school-age children with spoken and written language difficulties. Dr. Henbest’s primary research interests include word-level reading and spelling and the relation between linguistic awareness skills, particularly morphological awareness, and literacy development. She has published and presented on these topics at the state, national, and international levels. As part of this work, Dr. Henbest is co-author of a standardized test of morphological awareness entitled the Morphological Awareness Test for Reading (MATRS).