An Ecological Language Intervention Approach with Mentally Retarded Adolescents

Abstract

Many of the traditional treatments for language intervention with mentally retarded adolescents are designed to remediate specific linguistic constructs. These treatment approaches do not, however, integrate linguistic constructs nor use materials that are appropriate for the age and socioemotional level of mentally retarded adolescents. This paper describes an innovative ecological approach to language intervention with moderately mentally retarded adolescents. The literature from normal language development and other ecological approaches serve as a rationale for the treatment design. This language intervention approach is designed to integrate all aspects of linguistic communication skills into a meaningful context which is appropriate for the age and socioemotional maturity of the students. A detailed description of the intervention program will be presented including examples of actual treatment plans and parent letters.