An Investigation of the Processes of Meaning Construction in the Writing Behaviors of a Child with Language Disorder

When focusing on the importance of qualitative research as a clinical tool in speech-language pathology, Jack Damico has contributed a number of crucial publications. Beginning with his well-known case study involving the lack of efficacy in language therapy (1988) while he was a public school clinician, Damico has employed the clinical case study to make important points about service delivery and the state of our clinical practices. Although the case study has not been his primary qualitative methodology when reporting research or making clinical points, he has demonstrated its effectiveness over the years (e.g., Damico, Damico, & Nelson, 2003; Damico, Nelson, Damico, Abendroth, & Scott, 2008; Lynch, Damico, Damico, Tetnowski, & Tetnowski, 2009; Simmons-Mackie & Damico, 1996), and he has continued to advocate for the use of the case study since it “… can have great utility in clinical speech-language pathology” (Damico & Simmons-Mackie, 2003). This chapter is a demonstration of Damico’s assertion regarding the utility of this research methodology and it involves a demonstration of the power of this qualitative investigative approach to detail the actual complexity that occurs in the progressive development of writing in a language-disordered child.