Assessment/Findings
Over the course of the four months of this study, use of “I” for “me” was counted every two weeks for both subjects. Because of therapy methods used with the two subjects language samples were not obtained. However, at the end of each month length of sentences was informally assessed by counting the number of words used for most sentences during that therapy session.
It should be noted that inherent within therapy sessions was picture usage. Children were consistently given picture models of correct sentence structures, i.e. I want (noun), I see (object). Children were encouraged to point to these pictures as they repeated target phrases/sentences containing “I.”
SUBJECT 1
During the month of December, there was no change in phrase length or in use of “I” within the therapy session. During January J spontaneously produced two phrases containing “I,” I want sticker and I need one. There was no change noted in sentence length. During February, within the therapy session, J used 3 “I” vs “me” phrases when requesting objects. However, within the classroom, J had begun to use “I” consistently when interacting with his peers. In March, J began using “I” consistently in the therapy room. On the last day of assessment, J used 5 “I” sentences ranging in length from 3 to 6 words.
SUBJECT 2
During the month of December, there was no change in phrase length or use of “I.” During January, P began using longer sentences—average length of 4 words with some 5-word sentences emerging. There was no spontaneous use of I. During February 5-6 word sentences began to appear in P’s language, however, there were grammatical errors noted. There was no spontaneous use of “I.” During the first session in March, P used “I” once and “me” 5 times. During the second session, “I” was used 2 times and “me” 2 times. At the last session in March, P used 5 “I” phrases/sentences and 2 “me” phrases. These phrases were not grammatically correct. P omitted auxiliary “is.”
