A Study of the Effectiveness of Milieu Therapy and Language Training for the Mentally Retarded

Abstract

This study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of milieu therapy and specific language training based on the analysis of profiles obtained with the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) for a period of seven months. Thirty institutionalized mentally retarded children ranging in CA from 1-3 to 18-3 were paired on total raw scores from the ITPA and divided into two general types of language difficulties on the basis of the neurophysiological theory of Gellner. The teaching was based on the highest performance area or strengths of the child. The program was evaluated by pretest and posttest scores on the ITPA, as well as eight other psychological and educational tests. The results indicated significantly higher scores for the experimental group on total raw scores of the ITPA, as well as on six subtests.