Patterns of narrative discourse

"Patterns of Narrative Discourse: A Multicultural Life Span Approach educates professionals about the features of narrative discourse from a multicultural perspective. This text is intended for speech-language pathologists, special educators, early childhood specialists, elementary and high school educators, as well as students in these disciplines. The authors seek to prevent misdiagnoses of cultural differences as deficits. The importance of narratives for children and adults is presented with respect to literacy, education, law and medicine. Narratives from children with typical and impaired discourse development are described in the European, North American, African American, Spanish-speaking, and Asian American cultures. Adult narratives are also presented from speakers with typical and impaired discourse from different cultural backgrounds. Multicultural backgrounds are taken into consideration when dealing with assessment, intervention and education."--BOOK JACKET.