Dr. Leonard Abbeduto

Leonard Abbeduto, Ph.D.
Professor
Human Development
PhD, 1982, University of Illinois-Chicago

Training Programs in Developmental Disabilities Research

Dr. Abbeduto spent several years as a research scientist at Vanderbilt University's Kennedy Center for Research on Education and Human Development before joining our faculty in 1987. He has received numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health to support his research on the language and communication development of children, adolescents, and young adults with cognitive disabilities. Dr. Abbeduto is also a Associate Director for Behavioral Sciences at the University's Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development, Faculty Coordinator of its Research Participation Core, and a Core Investigator in its Communication Processes Unit. He also is Director of two federally funded training programs on behavioral research in developmental disabilities, one for advanced graduate students and the other for post-doctoral fellows. In recognition for his contributions to the field of developmental disabilities, Dr. Abbeduto was awarded fellow status by the American Association on Mental Retardation in 2000. In 1996, he received the Emil A. Steiger Award for distinguished teaching from the University. His teaching interests include language development, language disorders, and developmental disabilities. He recently coauthored (with S. N. Elliott) Guide to Human Development for Future Educators and edited Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Educational Psychology, each of which is a popular textbook for undergraduate classes in education and human development.

RESEARCH STATEMENT

"My research interests are largely in the area of language development. At present, I am most interested in children's emerging ability to participate actively as speakers and listeners in discourse. I have studied a variety of discourse behaviors, including the use of context to make decisions about what a sentence means and what form a message should take, the repair of misunderstandings, and the tracking of shared information over the course of the discourse. In an attempt to learn what skills are needed to engage in such behaviors, we have studied individuals who are slow to develop discourse skills; namely, those with cognitive disabilities. I am also interested in examining genetic contributions to this development and thus, have focused on the development of persons with genetic syndromes associated with cognitive disabilities, such as Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome. Recently, I have begun to examine the ways in which families influence and are influenced by the challenges that face their sons and daughters with cognitive disabilities."

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Abbeduto, L., Murphy, M.M., Richmond, E.K., Amman, A., Beth, P., Weissman, M.D., Kim, J.-S., Cawthon, S.W., & Karadottir, S. (2006). Collarboration in refential communication: Comparison of youth with Down syndrome or fragile X syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 111, 170-183.

Lewis, P., Abbeduto, L., Murphy, M.M., Giles, N., Richmond, E.K., Bruno, L., & Schroeder, S. (2006). Cognitive, language, and social-cognitive skills of individuals with fragile X syndrome with and without autism. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 50, 532-545.

Lewis, P., Abbeduto, L., Murphy, N., Richmond, E.K., Giles, N., Bruno, L., & Schroeder, S., Anderson, J.A., & Orsmond, G. (2006). Psychologcial well-being and stress in mothers of youth with fragile X-sydrome: Syndrome specficity and within-syndrome variability. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 50, 894-904.

Murphy, M.M., & Abbeduto, L. (in press). Gender differences in repetitive language in fragile X syndrome. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research.

Abbeduto, L. (2002) (Ed.). Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues in educational psychology, 2nd edition. Guilford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

Abbeduto, L., Benson, G., Short, K., & Dolish, J. (1995). Effects of sampling context on the expressive language of children and adolescents with mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 33, 279-288.

Abbeduto, L., Evans, J., & Dolan, T. (2001). Theoretical perspectives on language and communication problems in mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 7, 45-55.

Abbeduto, L., & Hagerman, R. (1997). Language and communication in fragile X syndrome. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 3, 313-322.

Abbeduto, L., & Hesketh, L. J. (1997). Pragmatic development in individuals with mental retardation: Learning to use language in social interactions. Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 3, 323-334.

Abbeduto, L., Murphy, M. M., Cawthon, S. W., Richmond, E. K., Weissman, M. D., Karadottir, S., & O'Brien, A. (in press). Receptive language of adolescents and adults with mental retardation: A comparison of Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation.

Abbeduto, L., Pavetto, M., Kesin E., Weissman, M. D., Karadottir, S., O'Brien, A., & Cawthon, S. (2001). The linguistic and cognitive profile of Down syndrome: Evidence from a comparison with fragile X syndrome. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 7, 9-15.

Abbeduto, L., Short-Meyerson, K., Benson, G., & Dolish, J. (1997). Signaling of noncomprehension by children and adolescents with mental retardation: Effects of speaker identity and message type. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 40, 20-32.

Abbeduto, L., Short-Meyerson, K., Benson, G., Dolish, J., & Weissman, M. (1998). Understanding referential expressions: Use of common ground by children and adolescents with mental retardation. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, 348-362.

Abbeduto, L., Weissman, M. D., & Short-Meyerson, K. (1999). Parental scaffolding of the discourse of children and adolescents with mental retardation: The case of referential expressions. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 43, 540-557.

CURRENT GRANTS AND FUNDED PROJECTS

Principal Investigator, Linguistic Communication and Mental Retardation. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 7/1/98 - 6/30/03.

Principal Investigator and Director, Doctoral Training in Mental Health Aspects of Developmental Disabilities Research, John H. Merck Foundation, 7/98-8/03.

Principal Investigator and Director, Postdoctoral Training in Developmental Disabilities Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 7/00-6/05.

CONTACT DR. ABBEDUTO:

Address: 852C Educational Sciences Building or 463 Waisman Center

Phone: (608) 262-0830 or 263-1737

Email: abbeduto@waisman.wisc.edu