Developmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and specific language impairment, are biologically based disorders that currently rely on behaviorally defined criteria for diagnosis and treatment. Specific behaviors that are included in diagnostic frameworks and the point at which individual differences in behavior constitute abnormality are largely arbitrary decisions. Such decisions are therefore likely to be strongly influenced by cultural values and expectations. This is evident in the dramatically different prevalence rates of autism spectrum disorder across countries and across different ethnic groups within the same country. In this article, we critically evaluate the understanding of developmental disorders from a cultural perspective. We specifically consider the challenges of applying diagnostic methods across cultural contexts, the influence of cultural values and expectations on the identification and treatment of children with suspected disorders, and how cross-cultural studies can help to refine cognitive theories of disorder that have been derived exclusively from Western North American and European investigations. Our review synthesizes clinical, cultural, and theoretical work in this area, highlighting potential universals of disorder and concluding with recommendations for future research and practice.

It is well known that children's language development lays the foundation for their literacy development, though it is difficult for preschool teachers alone to consistently engage in the individual interactions necessary to boost children's language skills. Given that parents are their children's first teachers, it is imperative to consider how parents can help improve their children's language and emergent literacy development prior to formal schooling. This article reviews parent-training studies of children's language and literacy in three contexts: parent-child book-reading; parent-child conversations; and parent-child writing. Parent training in each of these contexts has the capacity to improve children's language and literacy, with the effects being specific to the targeted skill. All three contexts are potentially valuable sites for training parents to help their children's language and literacy. In conclusion, parents are an undertapped resource for improving children's language and literacy.

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In this study, the relations among a range of literacy-related home practices and children’s acquisition of language and literacy at the outset of preschool are examined in a sample of linguistically diverse children from low-income families in the United States. Specifically, the study focuses on sources of variation found in mother–child conversations while reminiscing and book sharing, in frequency of book reading, in parent use of strategies to teach print skills, and in the child’s interest in shared book reading. Mothers’ elaborative forms of talk during reminiscing about behavior-related events were linked to children’s semantic and print knowledge. Child interest in storybook reading was related to their emerging literacy skills but not to language.

The relation between preschoolers' phonological awareness and the frequency and quality of parents' book-reading and reminiscing practices were examined in 54 low-income and ethnically diverse families. Children's phonological awareness was assessed at the beginning and end of preschool. Mothers reported the frequency with which they read books and reminisced with their children at the beginning of preschool using a questionnaire. They were also videotaped while reading a book and talking about a past event with their preschoolers. The quality of book-reading and reminiscing practices was measured via these videotapes by the number of openended questions mothers asked to extend the reading or conversation. Children's receptive and expressive vocabulary skills were assessed at the beginning of preschool as a control variable. Quality of reminiscing, but not book-reading practices, predicted preschoolers' phonological awareness skills at the end of preschool, even after controlling for beginning-of-preschool phonological and vocabulary skills and demographic variables. Reported frequency of book-reading and reminiscing practices bore no relation to phonological awareness skills. The link between quality of reminiscing practices and phonological awareness deserves further exploration, but might be explained by indirect links with other linguistic and cognitive skills.