The Verbal Noncommunicator

This report presents a case study of a child with language-impairment who demonstrated specific pragmatic disabilities. H, a 9:11-year-old male, was observed interacting with an adult, a language age-matched peer, and a chronological age-matched peer. Several analyses were performed on these interactions to examine conversational responsiveness and assertiveness (Fey, 1986), including turn initiation and exchange, production of assertions and requests, responsiveness to request forms, and topic introduction and maintenance. It was found that H demonstrated a highly assertive, moderately responsive style of conversational interaction. These results provide support for Fey’s (1986) verbal noncommunicator profile, and demonstrate the need to employ fine-grained analyses of behavior in order to capture deviant patterns of interaction.