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Thank you to all who attended the 2025 SRCLD conference!
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Poster Session #1 - Friday, May 30 at 8:30 AM
PS1F01
Evaluating SLP Decision-Making After Universal DLD Screenings
Tyler Christopulos; University of Utah
Developmental Language Impairment (DLD) impacts children’s academic and social outcomes, highlighting the need for early identification. Universal screenings offer an alternative to referral-based systems but raise questions about school-based speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) decision-making for failed cases. This study explored SLP decision-making after district-wide universal screenings of 3985 first-grade students using a sentence recall measure. Of these, 1009 (25.3%) failed at a cut-off score of = 84. Nearly half of the failed cases concluded with a single teacher consultation initiated and conducted by the SLP, who then determined that no further action was necessary. SLP caseloads increased by an average of 1.58 students. Findings indicate an overreliance on teacher input, potentially reducing the sensitivity of screenings and delaying further needed action. Teachers often face challenges identifying students with language impairments, limiting the efficacy of this process. To address these issues, districts should provide professional development for teachers and establish clear guidelines for SLP decision-making. Ensuring adequate resources and support for schools is critical to support effective universal screening programs for DLD.
PS1F02
Attitudes of District SLPs Toward Workload, Resources, and Feasibility Following Universal DLD Screenings
Tyler Christopulos; University of Utah
Andrah Lake Hansen; University of Utah
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) negatively impacts children’s academic and social outcomes, underscoring the importance of effective identification systems. Universal screenings offer a promising alternative to traditional referral-based systems but present unique challenges for school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs). This study examined SLPs’ attitudes after one year of district-wide universal language screenings for first-grade students in a large school district in the Intermountain West. A total of 67 SLPs completed a survey evaluating their perspectives on workload, district resources, and long-term feasibility. Each of the 15 survey items was rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Results indicated that SLPs found the workload manageable, district resources insufficient, and the long-term feasibility of screenings cautiously optimistic. These findings highlight the need for enhanced resource allocation and training to ensure sustainable implementation. Strengthening collaboration between SLPs and general education teachers could further support the long-term success of universal screenings. Addressing these challenges can position universal screenings as a transformative approach for early identification and intervention for children with language impairments.
PS1F03
The Effect of Imageability on Early Vocabulary Acquisition in Autistic and Non-Autistic Children
Eileen Haebig; Louisiana State University
Ezra Moore; Louisiana State University
Stanley West; Louisiana State University
Christopher Cox; Louisiana State University
Vocabulary composition and word-learning biases are closely interrelated in typical development.?Learning new words involves attending to certain properties?to?facilitate word?learning. Such word-learning biases are influenced by perceptually and conceptually salient word features, including high imageability. This study examined the association between word imageability and the point at which individual words are acquired by autistic and non-autistic children. We first collected word imageability ratings for the words on the Communicative Development Interview (CDI; Fenson et al., 2007) because existing word imageability databases only partially cover the CDI words. Our imageability ratings highly correlated with existing word imageability scores from different sources for overlapping words. Our subsequent analysis revealed that, at the word level, imageability predicts when autistic and non-autistic children acquire words, above and beyond word frequency. Importantly, the association between word imageability and word acquisition did not differ between our groups, suggesting that autistic and non-autistic children are biased to learn highly imageable words – thus the groups demonstrate an overlapping learning bias. This work extends previous research findings on this topic.
Funding sources: Research Competitiveness Subprogram – Louisiana Board of Regents
PS1F04
Working Memory, Language Comprehension and Production, and Underlying Neural Networks in Down Syndrome
Krista Wilkinson; Penn State University
Carol Miller; Penn State University
Chaleece Sandberg; Penn State University
Diane Williams; Penn State University
Jacquie Mogle; Clemson University
Sophie Wolf; Penn State University
This poster reports on preliminary data from a project examining the role of phenotypic characteristics of trisomy 21 on speech, language, and swallowing in individuals with Down syndrome. Working memory profiles suggest greater vulnerability in auditory working memory than visual working memory, though auditory working memory is crucial for language comprehension and production. This study examines the relationship between working memory and language outcomes behaviorally and through brain imaging. Language data from 11 participants (with at least three more expected) were analyzed. Participants completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-V (PPVT-V), auditory (digit span) and visual (Corsi Block) working memory tasks, and language production measures (sentence repetition, verbal fluency). Brain imaging has also been completed with six participants. PPVT-V scores and syntactic retention in sentence repetition correlated with auditory but not visual working memory. Some cross-hemispheric connections showed increased connectivity associated with higher scores on the PPVT-V and the percentage of constituents retained. Auditory working memory deficits may contribute to expressive morpho-syntactic challenges in Down syndrome. Findings may inform language interventions tailored to the support needs of this population.
Supported by NIH grant 1R01DC020622-01A1
PS1F05
The Role of Word Order in Toddlers’ Acquisition of Novel Adjectives
Madelyn Cecilia Escario; New York University
Marielle Ngoma; New York University
Sudha Arunachalam; New York University
Adjectives are thought to be difficult to acquire (e.g., Davies et al., 2023; Ricks & Alt, 2016). Some researchers suggest that noun-adjective order affects acquisition (e.g., Fernald, Thorpe, & Marchman, 2010; Ramscar et al., 2010). Using an online experimental word-learning task, we asked how well typically developing English-acquiring toddlers (N = 24; data collection in progress) between ages 26 to 33 months (mean age = 31 months) learn novel adjectives that occur before the noun (e.g., “This is a blick dog”) as compared to after the noun (e.g., “This dog is blick”). Children heard novel adjectives in one of these orders and were presented with a forced choice between two possible referents for the adjectives. Preliminary results indicate that children pointed at above-chance levels when adjectives occurred before the noun (60% accurate; t(9) = 3.31, p = 0.0091) but were at chance when adjectives occurred after the noun (51% accurate; t(13) = 0.16, p = 0.87). The findings may have implications for how clinicians use adjectives in vocabulary interventions.
Funding: NYU internal funds
PS1F06
Associations between language and in-the-moment mental rotation effort in autism
Sophie Barth; University of Missouri
Mila Vulchanova; Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Caroline Larson; University of Missouri
Differences in the association of language and visuospatial systems in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may explain notable heterogeneity observed in both domains. The current study used pupillometry, a physiological measure of in-the-moment cognitive effort, during a mental rotation task to examine associations between structural language and visuospatial cognition. Participants were 25 children and young adults with ASD and 25 age- and IQ-matched neurotypical (NT) peers. The mental rotation task involved four conditions: two- and three-dimensional figures; two- and three-dimensional objects. We measured structural language using the grammar subscale from the Test of Language Development: Intermediate. Growth-curve mixed-effects model results indicated group differences in the association between language and latency of cognitive effort for 3D stimuli. Autistic individuals with relatively better grammar performance had shorter latencies, whereas NT individuals with relatively better grammar performance had longer latencies. Findings underscore selective divergence between language and visuospatial systems and suggest the importance of examining the time course of their interaction in ASD.
International Partnerships for Excellent Education and Research, Research Council of Norway (309231); Norwegian University of Science and Technology strategic PhD grant.
PS1F07
Promoting English and Spanish with Computer-Assisted Bilingual Vocabulary Instruction (CABVI)
Karla Garcia; Texas Christian University
Alice Regalado-Lee; Texas Christian University
Jean-Franco Rivera-Pérez, Ph.D., CCC-SLP; Texas Christian University
Emily Lund; Texas Christian University
Purpose: This study evaluates the Computer-Assisted Bilingual Vocabulary Instruction (CABVI) program’s effectiveness in enhancing Spanish (L1) and English (L2) vocabulary acquisition among Dual Language Learners (DLLs). It examines whether language of instruction influences receptive, naming, and definitional vocabulary outcomes. Method: Twenty-one Spanish-speaking preschoolers were randomly assigned to bilingual Spanish-English instruction (n=8), CABVI English-only instruction (EI; n=7), or a business-as-usual (BAU) condition (n=6). CABVI incorporated audio prompting, interactive storybook reading, and vocabulary-focused tasks targeting 37 words. Vocabulary was assessed at three time points: pretest, posttest, and a six-week follow-up. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the effects of condition, language, and time on vocabulary outcomes. Results: Bilingual CABVI intervention significantly enhanced Spanish vocabulary across all tasks compared to EI and BAU groups, whereas both Bilingual and English CABVI groups showed similar English vocabulary gains. Conclusion: Bilingual CABVI can enhance monolingual English-speaking clinicians’ ability to support DLLs’ linguistic needs. The study highlights the potential of technology-based bilingual interventions as part of a broader approach to supporting DLLs’ unique linguistic needs.
PS1F08
Intervention Service Utilization by Families with Young Children with Down Syndrome in Urban and Rural Areas of Wisconsin and Minnesota
Miriam Kornelis; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Rachel Cressler; Gillette Children’s Hospital
Brynn Hesselberg; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Marianne Elmquist; University of Wisconsin, Madison
Claudia Schabes; University of Wisconsin, Madison
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin, Madison
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Children with Down syndrome (DS) benefit from early interventions such as speech-language therapy (SLP), physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), and audiological services. However, it is unknown whether service access differs by urban-rural designation. In this study, we investigated the utilization of interdisciplinary services for young children with DS in the greater Minnesota and Wisconsin areas, assessing rural versus urban utilization. We extracted data from a larger longitudinal study with families with young children with DS (Mage= 13 months), in which caregivers participated in surveys about family demographics and the habilitative services their child with DS currently receives. Across urban-rural designations, more than 50% of participants reported current utilization of each intervention service (SLP, PT, OT) and 22-31% reported an audiologic evaluation in the prior year. Participants in urban areas report greater rates of service access for each service, most notably for PT, with a 22% difference. This study provides insight into the early intervention service utilization of young children with DS in rural and urban communities of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
This project is funded by NIH (R21HD111807).
PS1F09
Interrelationships of Language, Executive Function, and Physical Activity in Children Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Jessica Mattingly; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Krystal Werfel; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Emily Lund; Texas Christian University
Children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) are known to perform differently than their peers on measures of executive function. Additionally, physical activity positively impacts word-learning in typically developing (TD) children and children who are DHH. However, little is known about the inter-domain relationships of language, executive function, and physical activity and if they differ in DHH, which was the purpose of this study. Fifty children, between 7 and 17, participated in language (CELF-5) and executive function (NIH Toolbox) assessment. Parents reported structured physical activity participation and executive function (BRIEF-2). Performance-based executive function was significantly different between groups; medium effect sizes for language scores and parent-reported executive function were also found. Executive function predicted language, with performance-based measures predicting language in DHH. Amount of physical activity did not predict language or parent-reported executive functioning, but it did predict performance-based executive functioning for TD. These findings provide a better understanding of how inter-domain relationships differ for children who are DHH and guide directions for future research.
Funding was provided by NIH-NIDCD (R01DC017173: Werfel and Lund) and Texas Christian University.
PS1F10
Integrating Automatic Speech Recognition and Natural Language Processing into Language Screening for Bilingual Spanish-English Speakers
José Ortiz; University of Maryland, College Park
Anna Soares; University of South Florida
Maria Adelaida Restrepo; University of South Florida
Shelley Gray; Arizona State University
Jessica Nolasco; University of Maryland, College Park
Language screening is a critical component in the early identification of developmental language disorder (DLD), but existing approaches often fail to meet the needs of bilingual children. This study explores how automation, using automatic speech recognition (ASR) and natural language processing, can be leveraged in language screening for Spanish-English bilinguals. Using an existing dataset we examined the performance of automation in transcribing and scoring child responses on the Spanish Screener for Language Impairment in Children (SSLIC). We compared manual and ASR transcripts to assess transcription accuracy and evaluated the accuracy of an automated scoring algorithm. This research provides insight into the efficacy of automated transcription and scoring for bilingual language assessments and the potential of modern technology to enhance early DLD identification.
PS1F11
Characterizing school-age children’s effort and automaticity in a sentence recall task
Tracy Preza; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Dancheng Liu; University at Buffalo
Carol Miller; Pennsylvania State University
Abdlrahman Alabdallah; Pennsylvania State University
Jinjun Xiong; University at Buffalo
Sean Redmond; University of Utah
Pamela Hadley; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
This study examined measures of effortful and automatic sentence production in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) obtained from the Redmond Sentence Recall Task (RSR). Children with DLD were expected to produce more stall-type disruptions as indicators of effort (i.e., repetitions, filled and unfilled pauses), and be less automatic (i.e., fewer words per minute, fewer non-disrupted utterances) than same-aged peers. Effort and automaticity were also expected to relate to general language ability. RSRs from 74 children with typical language development (TD) and 58 with DLD were transcribed and analyzed for stall rate, non-disrupted rate (e.g., no disruptions) and words per minute (WPM). Stall rate and non-disrupted rate were weakly correlated with general language ability, and WPM was moderately correlated with language measures. The DLD group used significantly more stalls and fewer WPM and non-disrupted utterances than the TD group. Analyzing sentence disruptions to reveal effort in language production and the potential added value of these measures for identifying DLD will be discussed.
This research is funded by NSF/IES 2229873. Original data collection was funded by NIDCD R01DC011023.
PS1F12
Narrative Tell and Retell in Mandarin-English Bilingual Children
Minsi Sun; The University of Texas at Dallas
Li Sheng; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Danyang Wang; Towson University
Pumpki Lei Su; The University of Texas at Dallas
Language Sample Analysis using narrative tasks is an evidence-based tool for assessing bilingual children’s expressive language. However, the impact of elicitation method (tell vs. retell) and languages on narrative performance remains unclear for Mandarin-English (ME) bilingual children. In this study, narrative samples elicited from 62 ME bilingual children using the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) were analyzed for macro- and microstructure measures. For macrostructure, children produced better narrative retells than tells across structure, complexity, and number of internal state terms, with cross-linguistic differences only in story structure. For English microstructure, children demonstrated improved story length, lexical diversity, and sentence length, but not syntactic complexity during retell. For Mandarin microstructure, children demonstrated improvement only in story length and lexical diversity during retell. Results showed that macrostructure skills can be more readily acquired through modeling and remain relatively stable across languages, whereas the malleability of microstructure skills differs across languages and types of measures. Findings could guide clinicians on choice of elicitation method and expected performance in ME bilingual children.
This research was supported by the Spencer Foundation (grant number 20190085).
PS1F13
Children’s Cross Situational Word Learning Across Accents and Time Scales
Emily Bagan; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Margarita Kaushanskaya; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Children demonstrate a remarkable ability to learn words despite ambiguity and variability in naturalistic environments. Cross-situational word learning (CSWL) is one proposed mechanism for learning where individuals track co-occurrence probabilities to resolve word-referent ambiguity. One aspect of everyday linguistic environments – accented speech – has not yet been tested in the context of CSWL. Yet, learners are regularly faced with situations requiring them to learn words from diverse speakers, who often have accents. We examine how monolingual English-speaking children between the age of 6-9 learn and retain novel words across native English-accented and Spanish-accented speech and different time scales. Preliminary results indicate that children can learn novel words through cross-situational statistics across accents, and that retention declines with time. Findings from this study have implications both for models of learning and memory, and for structuring linguistic environments that are most conducive to learning.
This project was supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) grant (R01DC016015).
PS1F14
Verbal mediation of shifting in children with developmental language disorder
Lauren Baron; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Annika Schafer; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Kelsey Black; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Shivani Patel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Ziyi Cao; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Asiya Gul; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Yael Arbel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) also have impaired executive function. However, performance on executive function tasks may be facilitated by verbal mediation, or the use of self-directed language to guide behavior. This project aims to examine the effects of verbal mediation on shifting task performance in school-aged children with DLD in comparison to children with typical language development (TD). The effect of verbal mediation was measured by comparing switch cost when the task was completed with versus without articulatory suppression. Preliminary results revealed that suppressing verbal mediation increased switch costs for children with DLD but not those with TD. The additional time on switch trials and an overall increase in reaction time appeared to support accuracy, suggesting effective but inefficient verbal mediation in children with DLD. Final results will have implications for interpreting clinical assessments and the development of executive function interventions.
This work was funded by NIDCD F32DC020095.
PS1F15 – WITHDRAWN
Midfrontal Theta Synchronization and Set-Shifting in Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
Asiya Gul; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Lauren Baron; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Annika Schafer; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Kelsey Black; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Ziyi Cao; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Shivani Patel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Yael Arbel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
We examined cue-related neural dynamics in typically developing (TD) children and those with developmental language disorder (DLD) during a modified local–global task using two complementary measures of theta-band synchronization: phase-locking value (PLV) and inter-trial coherence (ITC). Both metrics were computed in successive time windows (0–200, 200–400, and 400–600?ms post-cue) across frontal, central, and parietal sites.
In children with TD, both PLV and ITC demonstrated strong and dynamically modulated theta synchronization, with clear associations between neural dynamics and performance, though sometimes reflecting a speed-accuracy trade-off (e.g., faster responses at the expense of accuracy). In contrast, children with DLD exhibited less flexible and more inconsistent theta synchrony, with higher switching costs, delayed set-shifting, and inaccurate responses. These results suggest that optimal theta-band coordination during cue processing is crucial for efficient mental set updating. That atypical synchrony may underlie the executive control difficulties observed in DLD.
This work was partially funded by an NIH NIDCD grant F32DC020095 (PI: Baron) R01DC018295 (PI: Arbel).
PS1F16
Evaluating Taxonomic Knowledge of Children with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities who use Augmentative or Alternative Communication
Courtney Trevino; Texas Christian University
Emily Lund; Texas Christian University
Experiments evaluated taxonomic knowledge of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who use augmentative or alternative communication (AAC). In experiment 1, which included 18 children who use AAC and 18 age-matched peers, participants completed a receptive categorization task at three taxonomic levels: superordinate (animal), basic (dog), and subordinate (Labradoodle). Results revealed significant differences in group performance, suggesting delay in taxonomic knowledge. Experiment 2 compared the same taxonomic task outcomes for the AAC group and 17 vocabulary-matched peers. Results revealed significant group differences at basic and subordinate levels, suggesting disordered knowledge not explained by vocabulary size. Experiment 3 compared the same taxonomic task outcomes of three groups: AAC group children with an IQ above 70, those with an IQ below 70 (both n = 9), and 6 verbal, IQ-matched peers (IQ below 70). Although results were not significant, effect sizes were medium to large, suggesting potential group differences in a fully powered study. Taken together, results suggest that children with IDD who use AAC present with deficits in taxonomic knowledge.
An intramural grant from TCU funded this study.
PS1F17
Exploring Collaboration Between School-Based SLPs and Kindergarten Teachers: A Mixed Methods Study
Anne Reed; Florida State University/Florida Center for Reading Research
Kelly Farquharson; Florida State University/Florida Center for Reading Research
Collaboration between school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and kindergarten (K) teachers supports students with speech-language impairments (SLI). These students often face challenges in speech intelligibility, vocabulary, and anxiety, impacting their academic performance, particularly in reading and mathematics. Interprofessional practice (IPP) between SLPs and K teachers addressed these needs, but barriers like time constraints and scheduling limit its effectiveness. This study employs an explanatory, sequential (quant-QUAL) mixed methods design to explore the extent and nature of collaboration between SLPs and K teachers, focusing on factors such as self-efficacy, experience, and training. Quantitative data from surveys and qualitative data from interviews will be analyzed to understand the relations between these factors and collaboration levels. Preliminary findings indicate similar overall collaboration ratings for SLPs and K teachers (N = 160), with differences in specific collaborative behaviors. The study aims to inform strategies for enhancing IPP through pre-service and in-service training, ultimately improving educational outcomes for students with SLI. Understanding these dynamics paves the way for more effective collaboration in school settings.
Partial funding through CAPCSD PhD Scholarship and U.S. Department of Education Grant.
PS1F18
A Pilot Study of Language Preferences and Ableism: What Autistic Adolescents and Adults Want Professionals to Know
Alice Keithly; Wichita State University
Devin Farris; Wichita State University
Amanda Murfin; Wichita State University
Karissa Marble-Flint; Wichita State University
Trisha H. Self; Wichita State University
The language that educational and medical professionals use can assist in providing the best care; alternatively, words can create barriers between professionals and the individuals they serve and can hinder the care relationship. A range of terms are acceptable to use with autistic individuals with the two most common being identity first language (IFL) or person first language (PFL). It is vital for professionals to use the language preferred by the individual to provide person-centered care. While previous research has queried autistic individuals about their preferences through surveys, a gap exists in exploring the actual impact language has on autistic individuals. This pilot study aimed to fill that gap. Autistic adolescents and young adults (N =12) participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their preferences for PFL or IFL and what they want professionals to know about autism and ableism. Significant statements in the interview transcripts were identified and thematic analysis was conducted.?Clinical and research implications will be shared.
Funding: NIH LRP Award (Marble-Flint)
PS1F19
Leveraging AI to Assess Social Attention in Young Autistic Children
Erin Kosloski; UT Dallas, Dept. of Speech, Language, & Hearing
Shijian Deng; UT Dallas, Dept. of Computer Science
Siva S. N. Vasireddy; UT Dallas, Dept. of Computer Science
Randi S. Sherwood; UT Dallas, Dept. of Speech, Language, & Hearing
Feroz M. Hatha; UT Dallas, Dept. of Computer Science
Jia Li; UT Dallas, Dept. of Computer Science
Siddhi Patel; UT Dallas, Dept. of Speech, Language, & Hearing
Yapeng Tian; UT Dallas, Dept. of Computer Science
Pamela Rollins; UT Dallas, Dept. of Speech, Language, & Hearing
Challenges in social attention are an early indicator of autism and can significantly impact toddlers’ language and communication. However, accurately assessing social attention in toddlers remains difficult, often delaying early identification and intervention. This study aimed to develop the first artificial intelligence (AI) model to analyze social attention in autistic children. We extracted over 10,000 video frames from the Rollins Autism Corpus, a dataset of autistic toddlers engaging in a play-based assessment. Using the Computer Vision Annotation Tool, we manually annotated video frames for the toddlers’ gaze targets. These annotations were used to train a multimodal large language AI model to automatically detect the gaze of autistic toddlers. Model accuracy was evaluated using a macro-average F1 score and intersection over union and center distance of annotations. Preliminary results showed limited success in gaze detection, revealing a “neurotypical bias” in the reference database. These results underscore the importance of developing a more representative reference database with increased representation of autistic children to enhance model training and fine-tuning.
This research was supported by a UT Dallas Seed Program for Interdisciplinary Research award.
PS1F20
Early intervention for children with ASD: Maternal Satisfaction and Family Well-Being
Lisa Wisman Weil; Emerson College
Caroline Carreras; Children’s Speech and Language Services, LLC
Parents are experiencing high levels of stress compared to other adults, and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), are particularly vulnerable to increased levels of stress related to the specialized care their children require (Office of the Surgeon General, 2024). For parents of children with disabilities, early intervention (EI) has the potential to alleviate stress; however, research is needed to determine whether and how EI promotes family well-being. This study used a mixed methods retrospective design to investigate factors that contribute to family well-being in a small sample of children with ASD and their mothers. 13 mothers completed an online survey examining their well-being and their experiences with EI. Eight of the mothers completed an additional interview to better understand their experiences with EI. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed the mothers had high levels of satisfaction with EI speech and language services; participant experiences were moderated by access to EI, family well-being, and the desire to improve the EI system for other families.
This study was supported by the Emerson College Graduate Student Research Fund.
PS1F21
Validity of Informational Text Retells for Preschoolers with Developmental Language Disorder
Sarah Lynn Neiling; University of Cincinnati
Allison Breit; University of Cincinnati
Ling-Yu Guo; University of Cincinnati
Despite the ripeness of informational texts for language samples, they are seldom used, particularly with preschoolers. Addressing the time-intensive burden of language sample analysis, the current study examined reliability and validity of a rubric scoring scheme for an informational text retell, which included expository structure, syntactic cohesiveness, and text-related vocabulary. Participants were monolingual English-speaking preschoolers with DLD (N = 63; M age = 53.44 months, SD = 8.39 months). With high inter-rater reliability, moderate test-retest reliability, and moderate to high unidimensionality, it demonstrated promising reliability. When correlated with the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-2 (CELF P2), it demonstrated weak concurrent validity, indicating the informational text retell rubric could bear unique information in a language evaluation.
Funding: Institute of Education Sciences Grant R324A130205
PS1F22 – WITHDRAWN
Development of the Western-DHH Spoken Language Assessment Tool and Take-Aways from the Co-Design Process
Rachel Benninger; Western University
Lisa Archibald; Western University
Students who are d/Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing (DHH) need additional support in the classroom to reach their full learning potential. DHH students in hearing classrooms benefit from curriculum-based assessment and instruction, but these are often lacking. Specialist teachers of the DHH support these students and can contribute valuable information to the development of a spoken language assessment tool for DHH students. This project used a design research approach to co-design an assessment tool in collaboration with the intended end-users (specialist teachers of the DHH). Following the initial development of an assessment tool prototype, iterative cycles of testing, providing feedback, and revising took place. A four-part assessment tool was developed, tested, improved, and implemented into practice based on its use in real-world contexts. The final assessment tool is now available online and is being implemented into practice across parts of North America. This project provides a co-design framework for collaborative teams and addresses considerations for co-design projects (e.g., strengths and challenges of co-design).
Funding provided by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada #890-2018-0072.
PS1F23
Existential Quantification and Scalar Implicatures in Child Imbabura Kichwa
John Grinstead; The Ohio State University
Santiago Gualapuro Gualapuro; Southern Illinois University
4 years-old monolingual and multilingual children can draw “some-but-not-all” pragmatic implicature interpretations of sentences that include existential quantifiers in subject position. The lexicon and morphosyntax are predictive of children’s implicature interpretations in English and Spanish, which are typologically similar languages. Will we find the same relationships in a typologically distinct language, Imbabura Kichwa, a northern Quechuan language spoken in Ecuador? We test 48 bilingual Kichwa-Spanish-speaking children (range–4:11–8:11, mean age=83.16 months, SD=13.45 months), using a Truth Value Judgment Task and measure their lexicons (NDW) and morphosyntax (MLUw) using a Frog Story re-tell task. Results show that our youngest participants can draw ‘wakin mana tukuy’ (some, but not all) pragmatic implicature interpretations. However, neither NDW nor MLUw correlate with children’s judgments, though they do correlate with each other and with age. We discuss how results may relate to the structure of the Quantity Scale in Spanish and English vs. in Kichwa and relate these findings to the theory of Lexical Refraction.
Funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF- 1551903).
PS1F24 – WITHDRAWN
Speech Fluency in Multilingual Adolescents: A Comparative Study of Cantonese (L1) and Mandarin (L2) Narrative Production
Yingnan LI; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Li Sheng; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Jinghong NING; phyllis.ning@connect.polyu.hk
This study explores speech fluency differences between Cantonese (L1) and Mandarin (L2) in multilingual adolescents, filling a gap in research on non-Indo-European languages. Speech fluency, a key aspect of oral language ability, includes speech rate, breakdowns, and repairs. While fluency generally improves with language proficiency, L1 speech is typically more fluent than L2, though this gap may shrink as L2 proficiency grows. The study involved 31 native Cantonese-speaking first-grade adolescents with early exposure to Mandarin from Hong Kong secondary schools. Participants produced oral narratives using the picture story “The Flowerpot Incident” in both languages. Narratives were analyzed for speech rate, silent pauses, filled pauses, self-corrections, and repetitions. Results revealed that silent pauses were the most common disfluency in both languages. Adolescents demonstrated faster speech rates, more self-corrections, and fewer repetitions in Cantonese compared to Mandarin, while showing comparable performance in silent and filled pauses. These fluency differences and similarities may be attributed to factors like language proficiency, speaker-specific characteristics, and language-specific features, particularly linguistic distance. However, further research on the impact of linguistic distance is needed to enhance our understanding.
Funded by a PolyU grant P0040955.
PS1F25
Perspectives of adults with language disorders, parents, teachers, and speech-language pathologists on language assessments for special education eligibility
Carol Miller; Penn State University
Diane Williams; Penn State University
Lauren J. Van Scoy; Penn State University
Erika VanDyke; Penn State University
Tyshia Myers; Penn State University
Courtney Gallagher; Penn State University
Assessment for language-related special education needs can be made more strengths-based and useful for planning intervention. Our qualitative study addressed a need for research on the lived experiences of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities, their families, and care providers regarding language assessments. We conducted interviews with 17 participants across these groups. Transcripts were analyzed using descriptive content analysis. Preliminary themes include: the whole child; multiple diagnoses; associated effects of language problems; characteristics of assessments; how assessments and reports can be improved; and interprofessional collaboration. The results of the study will suggest how school-based assessments for spoken and written language problems can be improved and will be used to create a survey for data collection from a larger sample to assess the generalizability of the findings.
Funded by Penn State Social Science Research Institute.
PS1F26
BI-TODLS TOY STORY: EXAMINING CONSISTENCY IN LANGUAGE SAMPLES COLLECTED VIA TELE-PRACTICE
Stephanie Pedraza Marin; Northeastern Illinois University
Murielle Standley; Northwestern University
Adriana Weisleder; Northwestern University
Toddlers develop language at different rates, and language sampling is one method to assess their skills. Traditionally, samples are collected in clinical settings, but this can be challenging for families with limited access. Telehealth has shown promise in expanding speech-language services, especially for families in rural, minority, or low-income communities. However, it remains unclear whether high-quality language samples can be collected via telehealth due to variations in home environments. This study examines how the number and type of toys in a naturalistic caregiver-child interaction, as well as the home environment, influence language output. We hypothesized that toy quantity and type would affect the number and types of words toddlers used. Spanish-English bilingual parent-child dyads were recorded via Zoom during a 20-minute play session. Language samples were transcribed to measure vocabulary and coded for toys used and environmental factors. Preliminary findings suggest that toy type did not impact language production, while noisier settings reduced talkativeness. These insights can help refine language sampling methods across different settings.
PS1F27
Investigating the Predictive Value of Gestures to Identify Language Delay in Bilingual Toddlers
Murielle Standley; Northwestern University
Sefela Yalala; Northwestern University
Adriana Weisleder; Northwestern University
Bilingual toddlers’ language delays are often dismissed as the result of bilingual exposure rather than a potential indicator of a language or communication impairment. Language Sampling Analysis (LSA) is the gold standard for identifying children with language delays or impairments, but rarely used with bilinguals, in part due to a lack of bilingual SLPs. Furthermore, LSA includes only verbal measures. Research with monolinguals suggests that including gestures in measures of communication helps predict language outcomes better than verbal measures alone. Gestures may serve as a useful additional indicator for identifying language delay in bilingual toddlers as they can be observed in naturalistic interactions and characterized even by monolingual SLPs. This study presents data from 50 Spanish-English bilingual two-year-olds who participated in a 20-minute free-play interaction with their caregiver at home. First, we characterize bilingual toddler’s language and gesture use at 24 months. Then, we examine whether adding a measure of gesture to a naturalistic language sample (LSA+G) is a better predictor of language status at 30 months than LSA measures alone.
This research is supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).
PS1F28
Evaluating Concurrent Validity of a Novel Grammatical Language Probe
Jamie Linert; University of Minnesota
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota
Miriam Kornelis; University of Minnesota
Norm-referenced omnibus language assessments are useful for evaluating overall language ability, but there are very few items per assessment that target specific grammatical structures. We developed an expressive grammatical language probe that targets regular past tense -ed, third person singular present tense -s, present progressive is/are verb+ing, and do/does question formation so that these specific morphosyntactic skills can be evaluated. The purpose of this study is to test the concurrent validity of the grammatical probe by comparing the probe scores of 82 school-aged children to their standard scores on the Word Structures subtest of the CELF-5 and their scaled scores on the SPELT-3. We hypothesize that there will be a positive association between the probe scores and the scores on the standardized assessments, indicating that the grammatical probe is valid for evaluating morphosyntactic skills in children.
This study was supported by funding from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01 DC019374-01).
PS1F29
Speech Variability, Speech Perception, and Expressive and Receptive Vocabulary Skills in Children With and Without Speech Sound Disorders
Françoise Brosseau-Lapré; Purdue University
Greta Lowery; Purdue University
Ella Birgel; Purdue University
Emma Hall; Purdue University
Rationale: Children with speech sound disorders (SSD) sometimes produce words inconsistently over repeated attempts, and it has been proposed that variability may indicate underlying representations for words that are underspecified. The current study investigates the relationship between speech variability, speech perception, and expressive and receptive vocabulary skills in children with and without speech sound disorders, analyzing the data both by group and continuously.
Methods: Twenty-eight children, 14 with TD and 14 with SSD, completed a battery of speech and language measures, a speech perception task, and the Word Inconsistency Assessment to calculate lexical variability and segmental variability.
Conclusions: Children with above-average vocabularies had significantly better speech perception than children with average vocabularies, and lower segmental variability.
Implications: Children with lower vocabularies are at risk for poor speech perception skills. Segmental variability may index specificity and stability of phonological knowledge in children.
Funding: This research was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under Award Number R21DC016142 granted to Françoise Brosseau-Lapré
PS1F30
The Role of Early Noun Vocabulary in Late Talkers’ Verb Learning during a Treatment Study
Katrina Nicholas; Nevada State University
Lynn Perry; University of Miami
Kimberly Leon; University of Arizona
Heidi M. Mettler; University of Illinois at Chicago
Sarah Lynn Neiling; University of Cincinnati
Sarah Cretcher; University of Arizona
Mary Alt; University of Arizona
We examined early predictors of verb learning by Late Talkers (LTs) receiving VAULT Treatment (Alt et al., 2020, 2021, 2025). Noun knowledge is important when learning verbs as there is an interdependence between these word classes in a sentence. However, LTs tend to know a smaller proportion of nouns (Jiménez et al., 2021; Perry et al., 2024), yet similar proportion of verbs (Horvath et al., 2019) out of their total vocabulary compared to typical peers. Nouns are also potentially important for learning verbs as many early learned words are “denominalizable nouns”, acting as both noun and verb. LTs’ knowledge of these words as nouns at 30 months is related to their knowledge of them as verbs at 42 months (Biblin et al., 2023). Our preliminary results show that LTs with a higher proportion of pre-treatment nouns (but not verbs or denominalizable nouns), regardless of their pre-treatment vocabulary size, tended to learn more verbs during treatment. Knowing early predictors of verb learning can inform clinical decisions of children’s readiness for learning different classes of words as treatment targets.
Funding: NIH-NIDCD R01DC015642.
PS1F31
Investigating the Research to Practice Gap for Evaluating Multilingual Learners in Schools Through a Community-Based Retrospective Chart Review
Kristen Victorino; Rutgers University; School of Health Professions
Celeste Domsch; Rutgers University; School of Health Professions
Students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), i.e., students from ethno-racially minoritized backgrounds and those who are bilingual or English language learners, have historically been at risk of both over- or under-identification for special education services, particularly in the areas of speech, language, and literacy. While the literature has emphasized best practices for evaluating multilingual learners, it is not clear that the research is being translated to practice. This presentation will describe a partnership between a university and an urban school district, where a retrospective chart review process was used to operationalize challenges and barriers to equitable identification of student needs. Results indicated a mismatch between language exposure and language of testing and an overreliance on standardized scores for eligibility decisions. We also examined tests administered, eligibility decisions, and service recommendations by student age and other demographic factors. Based on the results, a plan for district professional development, training, and policy and procedural changes will be described.
This project was funded by a Community Impact grant from the Rutgers Equity Alliance for Community Health.
PS1F32
Anxiety, depression, emotional lability, and poor peer relations among children with ADHD, DLD, and co-occurring ADHD+DLD
Sean Redmond; University of Utah
Amy Wilder; University of Utah
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental language disorder (DLD) are common and commonly co-occurring disorders. Both conditions have been linked to elevated levels of anxiety, depression, emotional lability, and poor peer relations. Few studies have considered the impacts of both ADHD and DLD within the same study sample. A 4-group design consisting of children with ADHD, DLD, ADHD+DLD, and neurotypical development (TD) (n=78; mean age=10;6) was leveraged to examine the relative contributions of ADHD and DLD to parent-reported socioemotional problems. Children with ADHD were rated above clinical cutoffs at higher rates than children with TD on all scales and children with ADHD+DLD were higher than children with DLD on all scales except anxiety. Except for peer relations, children with DLD and TD were rated similarly. Significant mean group differences were present on ratings of children’s emotional lability and peer relations problems. After controlling for the contributions of age, sex, maternal education, nonverbal IQ, and ADHD symptoms (19-39% of individual variability), the contributions of language deficits to socioemotional problems were no longer significant. Clinical implications discussed.
Funding: NIDCDR01DC017153
PS1F33
AAC Implementation in Schools: Perspectives of Speech-Language Pathologists and Special Education Teachers
Camille Nuttall; Vanderbilt University
Fiona M. Higgins; Vanderbilt University
Elizabeth Biggs; Vanderbilt University
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and special education teachers are key service providers for students with complex communication needs (CCN) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This state-wide survey of SLPs and special educators is about perspectives of the importance of factors related to AAC implementation in schools, as well as potential barriers/facilitators. Findings demonstrate that SLPs and special education teachers’ generally equally rate the importance of stakeholder knowledge and attitudes, individualized support and instruction, as well as environmental access. However, there is a difference between SLPs and special educators’ perception of the quality of implementation for AAC factors. Understanding the perspectives of SLPs and special educators is essential to improving the quality of assessment, treatment and support for students using AAC. SLPs and special education teachers work with many of the same students and fully understanding their individual and collective perspectives will allow school teams to plan and implement the best intervention support. The next step in this line of research is determining how to address barriers for school-based AAC implementation.
Funding: Project PAL (H325D230072), U.S. Department of Education
PS1F34
A Qualitative Investigation of Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perspectives on Strategies Associated with Gestalt Language Processing and the Natural Language Acquisition Protocol
Emily Lorang; Michigan State University
Jennifer Johnson; Michigan State University
Courtney Venker; Michigan State University
Gestalt language processing (GLP) and the Natural Language Acquisition (NLA) Protocol have grown in popularity within speech-language pathology. GLP/NLA is not supported by peer-reviewed empirical research but includes several clinical recommendations. To investigate perspectives on strategies associated with GLP/NLA, this study included interviews from 17 practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who work with autistic children. We inquired about perspectives on six strategies SLPs may use with autistic children. SLPs nearly unanimously endorsed three strategies: acknowledging all communication modes and attempts, following the child’s lead, and trying to determine what a child might be communicating, which are strategies associated with general good practices. Most SLPs also expressed support of expanding a child’s spoken utterances, which is a strategy advised against in certain stages of GLP/NLA. Responses were mixed for modeling language without regard for grammar or word order and modeling language with no verbs, which are specifically advised in GLP/NLA at specific stages. Findings suggest that it is inadequate to talk about overall recommendations associated with GLP/NLA; it will instead be beneficial to examine specific strategies individually.
Funding: NIH R01 DC020165 (Venker).
PS1F35
Predictors of morphosyntax in young bilingual Arabic-English speaking children: The role of home literacy, family routines, and child age
Samantha Ghali; Medical University of South Carolina
John Colombo; University of Kansas
Arabic-English speakers comprise the second largest population of English learners in U.S. public schools (NCES, 2023), and Arabic is the fastest growing language in U.S. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). These considerations make it such that scholarly investigations in Arabic are crucial for advancing research in child language acquisition. This study examined the contributions of home literacy and family routines in bilingual Arabic-English speaking children’s morphosyntactic skills via parent report. Results revealed significant differences between mothers and fathers. Clinical implications and limitations will be discussed.
This work was funded by an ASHFoundation Graduate Student Scholarship and NIDCD (T32DC014435).
PS1F36
South Asian shared Reading Intervention (SARI) Protocol
Sindhu Chennupati; Arizona State University
Maria Adelaida Restrepo; University of South Florida
Neelima Wagley; Arizona State University
Asian Americans remain underrepresented in speech-language research (Millager et al., 2024). This study examines the South Asian shared Reading Intervention (SARI) protocol, a culturally responsive shared book reading intervention for South Asian families with children with language disabilities.
We seek to answer: how does the SARI protocol affect South Asian parents’ use of interactive reading behaviors (e.g., pausing/questioning, repeating, and expanding utterances), and what impact does SARI have on the expressive vocabulary of preschool-aged South Asian children with language disabilities or late language emergence (LLE)?
We will examine SARI’s efficacy using a multiple baseline single-case design. SARI modifies dialogic reading by replacing PEER with PRE (prompt, repeat, expand) and CROWD with DAAL prompts (define, ask, anticipate, link). Five South Asian parent-child dyads participated. Parent-child interactions and vocabulary are measured pre- and post-intervention.
Data collection is ongoing, with expected improvements in interactive reading behaviors and vocabulary. If effective, SARI will provide a culturally responsive intervention for South Asian families.
Funding Sources: Arizona State University Graduate Student Government Dissertation Grant; U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) PRIDE Training Grant.
PS1F37
Narrative or Conversation: Which Language Sample Type is Optimal for Bilingual Children?
Jill Potratz; Augustana College
Allison Haskill; Augustana College
Rationale: This study examines differences between two language sample types, conversation and narrative, to determine if there is an optimal type for assessing bilingual school-age children’s syntactic complexity and lexical diversity.
Methods: Conversation and narrative language samples were elicited from 24 typically developing school-age children in three groups who participated in the study: monolingual English, bilingual Spanish-English, and bilingual Mam-English. Two measures of syntactic complexity and two measures of lexical diversity were calculated.
Results: Preliminary results indicate that bilingual children’s mean length of utterance varies systematically with language sample type, as does number of different words.
Conclusions: Results demonstrate differences in morphosyntactic and semantic measures between narrative and conversational language samples elicited from bilingual children. The optimal type of language sample elicited by a speech-language pathologist may be best determined by the suspected area of difficulty for each specific child.
Augustana New Faculty Research Award (Potratz) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) grant R01HD087452 (PI: Redford).
PS1F38
A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Executive Functions and Language Relationship in 2- to 17-year-olds with Down syndrome
Claudia Schabes; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Marianne Elmquist; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Miriam Kornelis; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Jill Hoover; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) face barriers in daily living, in part because of deficits in executive functioning (EF) and language and communication. Research has identified profiles of communication and EF strengths and weaknesses in DS. Interestingly, these profiles appear to remain stable across development, and there is preliminary evidence that language and EF are related in young adults with DS. This study included two age groups, 2- to 5- and 9- to 17-year-olds with DS, to explore the relationship between expressive and receptive language and EF using non-parametric statistics. Implications for future research and clinical work will be discussed.
Funding: Waisman core grant NIDCHD 50HD105353 (Chang), NICHD R21 HD111807-01 (MPIs Sterling/Finestack), and NIDCHD R01 DC019092-04 (MPIs Sterling/Hoover).
PS1F39
Characterizing Relations between Preschoolers’ Science Vocabulary and Educational Media Use
Yi Tong; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Elizabeth Horgan; Formerly at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Heather Kirkorian; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Haley Vlach; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Science achievement gaps emerge as early as kindergarten and are strongly linked to disparities in early science knowledge. One key predictor of science knowledge is children’s science-specific vocabulary, which supports their ability to acquire and understand scientific concepts. One primary avenue for children to learn new words is educational media, yet little is known about how different platforms contribute to the development of science vocabulary. To address this gap, the current study examines the link between children’s science media exposure and their domain-specific vocabulary knowledge. Ninety-six parents of preschool-aged children in the U.S. completed surveys assessing their children’s general and science vocabulary, media exposure, and home learning environment. Results showed that reading science books significantly predicted science vocabulary, whereas engaging with science TV shows and apps did not. These findings have implications for educators and caregivers seeking to support early science learning and bridge achievement gaps.
This work was funded by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
PS1F40
Effects of Secondary Tasks on Planning Performance in Preschoolers with DLD and Typical Language
Leah Kapa; University of Arizona
Madeline Conway; University of Arizona
Lily Steiger; University of Arizona
Preschool-age participants with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) were compared on their performance on the Tower of Hanoi (TOH) planning task under four administration conditions. Participants first completed the TOH with standard task instructions. Subsequently, they completed three other TOH conditions that included secondary tasks in counterbalanced order. The articulatory suppression condition prevented self-directed speech through repetition of a word, plan aloud promoted self-directed speech by instructing participants to describe their actions, and foot tapping included a secondary task unrelated to language. Participants in the DLD and typical language groups performed equally accurately on the standard TOH, although participants with DLD tended to require more moves to solve the puzzle, which indicates less efficient planning performance. Both groups’ standard condition TOH accuracy was lower than the other conditions, likely due to order effects. Children with typical language had equivalent performance across the three secondary task conditions, but participants with DLD showed reduced accuracy in the plan aloud condition. These preliminary results suggest that instructing children with DLD to produce self-directed speech is not beneficial for cognitive performance.
NIDCD R21DC018624
PS1F41
Bridging Gestures and Words: Maternal Pointing and Early Vocabulary of Young Children with Down Syndrome
Daniela Fanta; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kai-Yun Huang; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Laura J. Mattie; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Caregivers use gestures, such as pointing to an object, to support spoken words and make a connection to their referents. This study examined the longitudinal relationship between maternal pointing and vocabulary in young children with Down syndrome (DS). Twenty young children with DS and their mothers completed a free play at Time 1, which were coded for maternal pointing–touch, proximal, and distal. Mothers reported children’s vocabulary on the CDI. Maternal distal points were positively correlated with child expressive vocabulary at Time 1. Linear regression revealed maternal total points at Time 1 predicted receptive and expressive vocabulary at Time 2 and 3. A multiple regression for types of points indicated that distal and proximal points were significant predictors of receptive vocabulary at Time 2, but no predictors were significant for expressive vocabulary. The multiple regression for type of point on children’s vocabulary at Time 3 was not significant. Maternal use of pointing may serve as a precursor to vocabulary growth in children with DS.
Funding Sources: Campus Research Board UIUC, CHAD Pilot Grant UIUC.
PS1F42
Expressive language and executive function growth in children born preterm
Danielle Hu; Univeristy of Wisconsin – Madison
Emma Libersky; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Julie Poehlmann; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Margarita Kaushanskaya; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Children born preterm can present with cognitive, linguistic, motor, and behavioral concerns, with significant variability between individuals. Executive function skills include attention, working memory, initiation, and planning, which are reliably an area of difficulty for children born pre-term. Additionally, there is a growing body of research that indicates an association between executive functioning (EF) skills and language development and suggests that EFs predict language skills in children born preterm. However, studies with children born full-term also suggest an inverse relationship, with language shaping children’s EF outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether expressive language at 24-months and 36-months can predict executive function at 36-months in children born preterm. Results demonstrate that vocabulary size at 24 months is significantly associated with later executive function at 24 and 36 months. Analysis of language transcripts at 36 months are currently in progress, so that we can examine whether the role of EFs in language development generalizes across different measures of language.
This project was funded under the National Institute of Health (NIH) grants R01HD044163 and R01DC020447.
Poster Session #2 - Friday, May 30 at 3:30 PM
PS2F01
Perspectives on Preparing Speech-Language Pathologists to Effectively Support Behavior in School Contexts
Zoe Hussey; Vanderbilt University
Colleen S. Walsh; Vanderbilt University
Phoebe J. Ahn; Vanderbilt University
Jason Chow; Vanderbilt University
School speech-language pathologists (SLPs) frequently encounter challenging behaviors that impact intervention. Despite recognizing these issues, solutions remain underdeveloped. This study aimed to explore SLP perspectives on challenging behaviors and potential strategies to better support SLPs in managing student behaviors in school contexts. Researchers conducted semi-structured Zoom interviews with 20 SLP faculty and placement coordinators. Using an inductive analytic approach, the research team developed a preliminary codebook from randomly selected transcripts. Weekly meetings allowed coders to refine and expand themes based on emerging data. Findings revealed key themes regarding SLP faculty perspectives on the frequency and impact of challenging behaviors in schools. Additionally, researchers identified barriers and facilitators to supporting SLPs, along with specific recommendations for integrating behavior management strategies into graduate training programs. The study highlights solutions at multiple levels, including improvements in SLP training, individual practice, and school-wide support. Future research should incorporate insights from practicing SLPs and school administrators to expand on these findings.
This work was supported, in part, by the Office of Special Education Programs (H325D2300371; H325D220055) and the National Institute of Mental Health (T32-MH18921).
PS2F02
Assessing Emotion Words and Prosocial Behaviors in Preschool-Aged Children
Alexandra Hollo; West Virginia University
Almara Hutchinson; West Virginia University
Many young children lack the vocabulary needed to ‘use their words’ to express emotions, instead communicating through unwanted behaviors. That is, young children’s emotional lexicon may have downstream implications for social behavior. Emotion words have both concrete and abstract semantic qualities and are developmentally appropriate targets for intervention; however, current assessments are inadequate for monitoring growth in this population. To address this gap, we developed and piloted direct measures of vocabulary and prosocial behaviors to support an intervention study on the effects of emotion-word instruction during shared book reading. Preliminary results from a sample of 10 pre-school age children indicate that our assessments align favorably with standardized measures and are consistent with results from previous studies. However, early findings were constrained by using binary (correct/incorrect) scores. Here, we will present results of a second round of data collection in which we expand the number and types of prompts as well as the scoring criteria. Attendees will learn how to adapt our procedures to measure vocabulary instruction across thematic content as well as prosocial behavioral outcomes.
This study is unfunded.
PS2F03
Recruitment strategies and cost estimation for enrolling 81 Spanish speaking caregivers and their young child with developmental language disorder in a randomized trial.
Tatiana Peredo; Vanderbilt University
Taydi Ray; Vanderbilt University
Ann Kaiser; Vanderbilt University
This study used targeted recruitment strategies to identify and screen 214 Latino and Spanish-speaking families for eligibility in a clinical trial testing the effectiveness of a parent-mediated early language intervention. Eighty-one dyads were enrolled. A novel approach to calculating a “participant acquisition cost” was utilized to compare cost effectiveness of five targeted recruitment approaches (a) posting and advertising on social media, (b) partnering with community agencies, (c) partnering with pediatricians, (d) word of mouth, (e) partnering with early intervention providers, and (f) direct contact with study staff. We compared rate of enrollment in the trial based on “expert” and “non-expert” in early language intervention referral sources. Expert referrals yielded 50% enrollment, non-expert referrals yielded 19% enrollment. Partnering with early intervention providers was the most cost effective approach and resulted in the highest number of participants.
PS2F04
Intervention Success and Retention: Does Early Progress Predict Long- Term Success?
Mohima Ali; University of Arizona
Samantha Lord; University of Arizona
Elena Plante; University of Arizona
The goal of language treatment is not simply for children to improve during the therapy sessions, but for that improvement to generalize and last over time. We examined whether the amount of time a child takes to show progress in treatment predicted retention of learning immediately after treatment ended and after a delay. Sixty-one preschool children received Enhanced Conversational Recast treatment for approximately 25 sessions over five weeks. Their treatment outcome was measured as performance on three generalization probes that occurred in the last week of treatment, and one more after an approximately six-week delay. Time-to-response in treatment correlated both with generalization at the end of treatment, and whether treatment gains were retained over time. The faster children responded in treatment, and consequently the more time spent with better in-treatment performance, the better their generalization and retention. Conversely, this suggest that slow responders may need more time showing success in treatment to consolidate their learning before treatment ends.
Funded by NIDCD grant R01DC015642.
PS2F05
Assessing text-level syntactic comprehension in short written texts
Rikke Vang Christensen; University of Copenhagen
Mads Poulsen; University of Copenhagen
Syntactic skills are important for oral and written language comprehension.
In this study, we examine the characteristics of a test developed to assess text-level syntactic comprehension in short written texts.
Research question: What are the relations between performance in a text-level test of syntactic comprehension and tests of sentence-level syntactic comprehension, reading comprehension and vocabulary?
Method: 120 grade 5 students completed the text-level test of syntactic comprehension.After reading each text, participants answered a question that required them to establish meaning based on syntactic signals. Participants also completed three sentence-level tests of syntactic comprehension and tests of reading comprehension and vocabulary.
Analyses and results: The internal consistency of the text-level test of syntactic comprehension was acceptable (Cronbach’s a = 0.7). Correlations between the text-level test of syntactic comprehension and the sentence-level tests as well as the reading comprehension test were significant (r’s from .23 to .37). There was no correlation with vocabulary.
Implications: Text-level assessment of syntactic comprehension may be an ecologically valid supplement to current tests of syntactic comprehension.
Funding Sources: Independent Research Fund Denmark and University of Copenhagen.
PS2F06
Examining morphosyntax performance in children with cochlear implants, hearing aids, and typical hearing
Alice Regalado-Lee; Texas Christian University
Daniel Ibarra; Texas Christian University
Krystal Werfel; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Emily Lund; Texas Christian University
Purpose: Children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) often struggle with expressive morphosyntax, particularly in producing bound, inflectional morphemes like past tense -ed and third-person singular -s. Tense marking is a clinical marker of developmental language disorder (DLD), yet little research has examined similar impairment patterns in DHH children. This study investigates whether tense-marking scores distribute non-normally across groups and if a subset of children clusters around lower accuracy levels, as seen in DLD. Method: Participants included 147 children who are DHH (42 with cochlear implants, 37 with hearing aids) and 68 with typical hearing. All completed the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI), assessing tense marking. A Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Bayesian clustering analyses were conducted. Results: Non-normal score distributions were confirmed across groups. Analysis identified two clusters per group, with a subset of children in each showing lower accuracy levels. Conclusions: Findings suggest tense marking may help identify co-morbid language impairment in DHH children, informing assessment and intervention.
This work was supported by NIH/NIDCD (R01) and an OSEP/OSERS Leadership Training Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
PS2F07
Can Parents Accurately Report Children’s Use of Words with Multiple Meanings?
Ashley Reece; Univeristy of Wisconsin – Madison
Kaitlynn Ellis; Vanderbilt University, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Yi Tong; Univeristy of Wisconsin – Madison
Gary Lupyan; Univeristy of Wisconsin – Madison
Haley Vlach; Univeristy of Wisconsin – Madison
A common methodology for studying children’s vocabulary is parental word checklists, where parents indicate words they have heard their children produce. While checklists provide the number and types of words children know, they do not include information about the conceptual structure underlying children’s vocabulary. One step toward understanding these conceptual structures is to examine the meanings children communicate when producing words. However, we do not know whether parents can accurately report which word meanings their children use. The current study examines whether parents can accurately report their children’s knowledge and use of words which have multiple meanings. To do this, parents fill out a checklist, marking the word meanings they have heard their children use. Children are tested on those same word meanings during the study. Our results indicate that there is indeed overlap of the meanings of words parents believe their children know and the word meanings their children know.
We would like to thank the National Science Foundation for funding this work.
PS2F08
Equipping Educators to Identify and Support Students with Developmental Language Disorder: A Pilot Study
Brittany Ciullo; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Jill Hoover; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a lifelong communication disorder that affects approximately two students in every classroom. Unfortunately, children with DLD are often undiagnosed due to low public awareness of the disorder. Teachers are well-positioned to support students with DLD, but prior research suggests they lack the necessary knowledge and training. This pilot study investigated the efficacy of a group training to improve teachers’ understanding of DLD and solicited feedback to improve future trainings. The current training focused on the characteristics of DLD and practical strategies for supporting students with DLD in the classroom. Pre- and post-training survey comparisons indicate a reduction in teachers’ uncertainty about DLD and increased knowledge of DLD characteristics. Teachers provided positive feedback and requested increased opportunities to learn more about DLD in the future. Study findings demonstrate the efficacy of a group training in equipping teachers to identify and support students with DLD. Empowering teachers with knowledge of DLD is critical to improving academic, social, and life outcomes of students with DLD.
This work was supported by a University of Massachusetts Amherst Predissertation Grant.
PS2F09
Open or Closed? Exploring Parental Questioning Strategies for Autistic Adolescents
Tiffany Edgar; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Parent-child interactions are critical for language and social development, especially for autistic children and adolescents who may feel more comfortable communicating with familiar caregivers than with peers or unfamiliar communication partners. This study examined (1) whether mothers produced more statements or questions with their autistic children, (2) differences in the rate and type of questions mother asked their autistic children, and (3) whether the rate of questions was associated with children’s nonverbal IQ or autism symptomology. Eighteen autistic males (ages 9 – 18) and their biological mothers participated in a 10-minute conversation sample, which were video-recorded and behaviorally coded. Additionally, autistic males were administered a series of standardized assessments. Results indicated the mothers produced more statements than questions and relied more on closed-ended questions than open-ended and rhetorical questions. The rate of questions was not significantly associated with children’s nonverbal IQ or autism symptomology. Results indicate that maternal communication styles may reflect individualistic and cultural preferences rather than tailored to children’s clinical characteristics.
Funding: NICHD award T32HD007489 (Hartley); NIDCD award K23DC016639 (Sterling);
NICHD award P50HD105353 (Waisman Center)
PS2F10
How do bilingual and monolingual children process two dialects of English?
Chenelle Walker; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Margarita Kaushanskaya; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Within the United States, African American English (AAE) and Standard American English (SAE) are some of the most studied and spoken dialects. However, it is unknown how processing switches between dialects impact language processing in bilinguals and monolinguals. Monolingual English-speaking children (n=16) and Bilingual Spanish-English speaking children (n=9) between the ages of 6-9 (Mean=89.8 months, SD=10.7) completed this study remotely via zoom using Gorilla Experiment Builder. Participants completed an auditory moving window task to investigate how they processed sentences produced in AAE and SAE. Preliminary data from the Monolingual English participants revealed that they processed sentences faster in SAE (1046.702 ms) than in AAE (1061.954 ms). Preliminary data from the Bilingual Spanish-English participants revealed that they processed sentences faster in AAE (1095.821ms) than in SAE (1206.597ms). In the mixed conditions, both monolingual (1142.810) and bilingual (1271.2000) children processed MAE nonswitch trials the slowest. Implications of this work would provide insight into how children linguistically process dialects and inform the effects of dialect shifting.
This project was supported by the National Institute of Health (NIH) grant (R01DC016015).
PS2F11
Adversity Exposure & Parent-Child Interactions: Preliminary Language Sample Analysis Data
Claire Selin; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Yo Jackson; Pennsylvania State University
Adversity exposure is linked to language difficulties, particularly in youth exposed to maltreatment, who produce shorter and less complex sentences than their peers. However, less is known about broader adversity exposure, which encompasses multiple forms of potentially traumatic events (e.g., maltreatment, household dysfunction, violence exposure). In prior work, we found that adversity-exposed children underperformed on direct assessments of language, but language outcomes did not correlate with adversity dosage (number of adverse event types) or frequency, raising questions about underlying mechanisms. Here, we analyzed parent-child interactions in the same adversity-exposed sample (n = 20; age = 5 years) using CLAN for language sample analysis. We examined correlations between child language outcomes, adversity dosage, adversity frequency, and parent language use. Consistent with prior work, child language outcomes did not correlate with adversity measures. They also did not correlate with the parents’ language use. These findings suggest that neither cumulative adversity nor parental language input covaries concurrently with child language outcomes, but future research should explore whether adversity affects language over time.
Funding: This research was supported by NIH awards R03HD115826 and R01MH079252.
PS2F12
An Intervention for Contextual Word Learning: Do Semantic Inferencing Skills Generalize?
Dawna Duff; Binghamton University
Yu Jiayu; Binghamton University
Kim Ju Hee; Binghamton University
Suzanne Adlof; University of South Carolina
Lisa Fitton; University of South Carolina
Rationale There is a need for effective educational interventions to support vocabulary learning. Contextual word learning is a potentially potent intervention target, as most new word meanings are learned from context. Cain (2007) presented children with a text containing a novel word, then asked children to generate a definition, explain their reasoning, followed by feedback on accuracy (GEF intervention); participant definitions improved across sessions.
Research Questions The aim of the current study is to determine whether effects of GEF intervention generalize to untreated words.
Methods Children with typical language development (grades 4-6, n=15) received a GEF intervention across three sessions. Pre and post intervention, they read stories with novel words embedded, then completed the Measure of Semantic Knowledge (MSK, Duff, 2019) regarding novel words’ meanings.
Analysis and Results Results from this preliminary sample will be analyzed as a mixed effect model, predicting MSK scores with treatment (pre-post) as a fixed effect, and item and participant as random effects.
Implications Results will contribute to our understanding of effective strategies to improve semantic inferencing from context in school-aged children.
Funding: NIDCD R21DC020018
PS2F13
Academic abilities and habits of college students with developmental dyslexia
Peter Richtsmeier; Oklahoma State University
Keeley Warder; Oklahoma State University
Michelle Moore; University of Maine
Yu Zhang; Oklahoma State University
Hannah Krimm; University of Georgia
College students with dyslexia or typical reading skills completed a survey of inherent academic/cognitive abilities and learned academic habits. College students with dyslexia gave similar ratings for both their abilities and habits—with the exception of their ability in reading fluency. This latter rating was correlated with a standardized measure of reading fluency. Despite this relative weakness, the students with dyslexia mostly reported comparable, particularly with respect to abilities in cognitive areas not expected to be low based on the dyslexia phenotype. Similarly, they rated their academic habits similarly to the students with typical reading. These findings can be taken as evidence that accommodations given by universities to students with dyslexia are adequate.
This study received no external funding.
PS2F14
Using Evaluative and Iterative Strategies to Support Comprehensive Language Assessment in Schools
John Heilmann; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Alyssa Wojtyna; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Dawn Merth-Johnson; Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
The purpose of this poster is to demonstrate how we used evaluative and iterative implementation strategies (Powell et al., 2015) to make progress toward realizing two implementation outcomes: fidelity to and acceptability of standards-based language assessments (Proctor et al., 2023). Using the Active Implementation Frameworks (Fixsen et al., 2019), we supported speech-language pathologists’ proficiency in assessing student performance on academic standards and social-emotional learning competencies. Over 200 school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) completed professional learning on assessment practices concurrent with continuous improvement cycles with each of the six district’s administrative teams. We used multi-methods to analyze the quantitative fidelity data and qualitative acceptability data. We observed significant increases in fidelity scores and identified multiple strategies to improve the acceptability of our measures. We will illustrate how the implementation team used these multiple data sources to iteratively adjust the support system through the continuous improvement process.
This project was funded by the US Department of Education through a partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
PS2F15
Phonological Memory Profiles of Children with Speech and Language Disorders
Elizabeth Roepke; Saint Louis University
Bailey Whitlock; Purdue University
Taya George; Purdue University
Françoise Brosseau-Lapré; Purdue University
Rationale: We investigated performance on a nonword repetition task to better understand the shared and specific processing weaknesses of children with speech sound disorder (SSD), with and without developmental language disorder (DLD).
Methods: Fifty-four preschool-aged monolingual English-speaking children completed a battery of speech and language tests, including the Syllable Repetition Task (SRT). Children were classified in one of three groups: typical speech and language (TD); SSD-only; SSD+DLD. We analyzed performance on the SRT by group, examining error quantity and type. In addition, we investigated whether children who produce atypical speech errors have more difficulties repeating longer nonwords than children who produce typical errors.
Conclusions: Children with SSD+DLD had the most difficulty repeating longer nonwords and produced vowel errors on the SRT. Children with SSD who produce atypical speech errors also had more difficulty repeating longer nonwords.
Implications: Clinicians and researchers can consider implementing nonword repetition tasks into assessment batteries for children with speech and language disorders.
Funding: This research was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) under Award Number R21DC016142 granted to Françoise Brosseau-Lapré.
PS2F16 – WITHDRAWN
Executive function and language abilities in children and young adults with Down syndrome
Emily Schworer; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Amy Banasik; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Marianne Elmquist; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ruth Litovsky; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sigan Hartley; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Andrew Alexander; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Jill Hoover; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin-Madison
There is substantial variability in the communication and language outcomes of individuals with Down syndrome (DS). One potential source of variability may be executive function (EF) abilities, yet the connection between these domains is understudied. We sought to further characterize the relationship between EF abilities and language abilities. Children and young adults with DS (n = 38) with a broad age range (11-25 years) were included in the cross-sectional study. EF was measured using the Corsi Block Tapping Task-Forward and the NIH Toolbox Flanker and Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS). Vocabulary was assessed with standardized measures and language sampling will be included in the final presentation. Implications related to the inclusion of EF targets in intervention and treatment of language challenges in DS will be discussed.
Funding: R01 DC019092, R01 DC019511, P50 HD105353
PS2F17
Effect of Shared Book Reading with EMT Strategies on Children with and without Disabilities
Eon-Joo Jang; Vanderbilt University
Kathryn Bailey; Vanderbilt University
Sophia Delmare; Vanderbilt University
Ashlyn Lanier; Vanderbilt University
Ann Kaiser; Vanderbilt University
Young autistic children often experience challenges in communication in pre-academic activities and accompanying delays in early literacy development. To investigate the potential positive effects of providing specific supports for language learning during shared book reading, the current study embedded the Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT) strategies with Bundle of Learning, a play-based SBR strategy. Two dyads each including one autistic child and one typically developing child participated in small group sessions with trained interventionists using the Bundle of Learning kits. The current study compared the effects of the Bundle of Learning + EMT intervention to standard repeated reading on children’s use of the number of different words (NDW), unprompted communications (UPC), and engagement. The findings indicated a clear functional relation between the use of intervention and the children’s NDW, UPC, and engagement, when compared to standard book reading alone. The current study extends the use of EMT into a rich SBR approach, Bundle of Learning, and demonstrated positive effects on children with and without disabilities.
[No funding source to report]
PS2F18
One size does not fit all: Leveraging alternative data approaches to improve single-language DLD screening for multilingual public-school students
Erica Gutmann; San Diego State University; University of California, San Diego
Crystle Alonzo; San Diego State University
Ashley Sanabria; San Diego State University
Kate Radville; Northeastern University
Tiffany Hogan; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Universal screening for Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a promising preventative approach for decreasing negative educational outcomes often associated with DLD. However, schools with multilingual student populations face barriers in following best practice guidelines for language assessment and screening. For this study we explored the outcome of a district implementing a single-language universal DLD screener with a multilingual student body (n=703 kindergartners). Additionally, we explored alternative data analysis approaches to determine how to utilize the data to most appropriately identify DLD risk in a multilingual student body. We found that the English-only language screener vastly overidentified multilingual students as at-risk for DLD, and that alternative methods for data analysis lowered the rate of identification in bilingual students to be closer to the expected DLD prevalence rates. Our results provide additional support, in-line with extant literature, that single-language testing over-identifies multilingual students as at-risk for DLD. Importantly, our results also provide support and guidelines for alternative data approaches which districts administering single-language screeners can leverage to lower DLD risk identification in a multilingual population.
Funding Source: NIH NIDCD R01 DC016895.
PS2F19
Reliability measures and sociodemographic effects in the Czech CDIs
Filip Smolík; Inst. of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Tereza Sloupová; Charles University
Lucie Jarušková; Charles University
Barbora Dvoráková; Inst. of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Katerina Chládková; Inst. of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Nikola Paillereau; Inst. of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Czech CDIs are normed on a large data set of more than 2,000 Czech-learning children, balanced in terms of age (each month) and sex (approx. ½ of boys) and representative of all local regions. The present study provides reliability measures and models the effects of sociodemographic predictors. In the Czech CDIs, maternal education affects assessment of all language components. The evaluation of some components is further affected by the child’s municipality, pointing to vocabulary differences between children from villages vs. cities, by sex, or by who the reporting person was (mothers vs. other caregivers, such as fathers, or grandparents). Correlations between main language components and interrater along with test-retest partial correlations show that Czech CDIs are reliable screening tools providing consistent measurement of overall language development. Vocabulary comprehension is a less reliable component perhaps because at the child’s youngest age, caregivers are uncertain about the number of comprehended words.
PS2F20
Demographic profiles of adults identified with DLD via online screening
Gabriel Cler; University of Washington
Iris Mendoza Luna; University of Washington
Although research on developmental language disorder (DLD) often focuses on children, many individuals with DLD continue to experience difficulties into adulthood. However, adults with DLD often go undiagnosed, as many children with DLD do not receive formal diagnoses, leading to difficulties in accessing services and a dearth of research. This study adapted an existing protocol (Fidler et al, 2011) for identifying adults with DLD for online use via Zoom. The online version was compared to the original face-to-face protocol to assess its reliability. In a larger cohort of 459 online-only participants, we explored demographic factors affecting language screening scores. Results showed that the online screening correlated highly with the face-to-face version (R=0.90). No significant effects of age, gender, or early bilingualism on language screening scores were found. Even without diagnoses, adults identified with DLD self-reported higher rates of language-related difficulties, particularly with writing and grammar. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the online protocol in identifying adults with DLD and suggest it can be a valuable tool for future research.
Funding for portions of this work were provided by the University of Washington Royalty Research Fund.
PS2F21
Exploring the Effects of Prior Experience in a Context on Adolescent Social Communication: New Data from the Transition Pragmatics Interview
Gerard Poll; Miami University
William Boone; Miami University
Samrawit Getachew; Miami University
Janis Petru; Elmhurst University
The Prism Theory (Rose-Krasnor, 1997) suggests that social communication ability emerges from an individual’s learning and experience in varied social contexts. In children, pre-school experience is related to initial elementary school success, but it is unclear if this relationship holds for adolescent social communication, particularly for those with disabilities who are preparing to transition to adult contexts. We evaluated social communication ability for post-school contexts for 150 adolescents with the Transition Pragmatics Interview (TPI), a new social communication assessment being developed to support transition intervention planning. We used Rasch analysis of the TPI items to derive a social communication ability measure for each participant for each of three post-school contexts: employment, independent living, and post-secondary education. We then ran regression models to predict social communication ability from age, disability status, and experience. Experience was related to social communication ability for independent living and post-secondary education, but not for employment. The data suggest that providing experience in a context may be a productive element of transition interventions for adolescents with disabilities whose social communication abilities differ from neurotypical peers.
PS2F22
Does Orthography Facilitate Verb Learning in Preschool-Age Neurotypical Children?
Grace Clark; Montclair State University
Verb learning is an integral piece of language development. Without verbs, relationships between agents and events cannot be conveyed. Research shows that noun learning improves when orthographic representations (i.e., written words) are included during learning trials, even in early literacy development; however, this has not yet been demonstrated with verbs. This study integrates findings on orthographic support for noun learning with foundational verb learning principles to identify optimal conditions for verb acquisition. We examined verb learning with and without orthographic support in 37 neurotypical children ages 3 through 6, through a brief, online, asynchronous intervention hosted by Children Helping Science. Using a between-subjects design, children were exposed to 6 novel verbs in videos with or without orthographic support. Additionally, measures of reading interest and letter-sound correspondence were collected. Multilevel modeling revealed that letter-sound correspondence skills were significantly associated with increased accuracy; however, there was no effect of orthography. Findings are discussed in relation to the lexical quality hypothesis and mental graphic representations.
Funding source: start-up funds from Montclair State University.
PS2F23
Examining Changes in Parent-Infant Vocal Engagement Across the First Year of Life During Feeding and Play
Hayden Kamiya; Northeastern University
Kate Radville; Northeastern University
Kristen Allison; Northeastern University
Alaina Martens; Northeastern University
Natalie Peterman; Northeastern University
Emily Zimmerman; Northeastern University
This study investigates parent-infant vocal engagement during feeding compared to play and how this evolves across the first year of life. We hypothesized that parent and infant vocalizations would increase with age, and that vocal engagement would be similar during feeding and play. We compared the frequency and types of home vocal engagements in these two caregiving contexts for 32 full-term infants at three, six, nine, and 12 months. We measured the home language environment (infant vocalizations, adult vocalizations, and conversational turns) using Language Environment Analysis (LENA©) technology. Parents completed a demographic questionnaire and an hourly activity log to report participation in play and feeding. Infant vocalizations increased with age during both feeding and play. There were no significant differences in the home language environment during feeding as compared to play, suggesting that mealtimes and play provide similar opportunities for language interactions. These findings elucidate key implications for informing early intervention approaches and recommendations for how caregivers may feasibly bolster the home language environment.
Funding Source: NIH NIDCD R01DC019902-04 (PI: Zimmerman).
PS2F24
Developing and Validating the Narrative Assessment Protocol in Mandarin (NAPiM) for Assessing Narrative Microstructure
Huanhuan Shi; New York University
Danyang Wang; Towson University
Luyuan Geng; The HongKong Polytechnic University
Jiayu Yu; Binghamton University
Li Sheng; The HongKong Polytechnic University
Narrative language samples are useful in distinguishing between children with and without language impairment, evaluating linguistic strengths and weaknesses, and monitoring language development progress. This study introduces the Narrative Assessment Protocol in Mandarin (NAPiM), adapted from an established English protocol, to assess narrative microstructure in Mandarin-speaking children. We recruited 257 children, aged 39 to 70 months (mean age = 59 months) from China, including 21 with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Participants completed storytelling and retelling tasks. We scored their narrative samples using the NAPiM long (28 linguistic items) and short forms (15 linguistic items). We provided evidence to support the construct validity of the NAPiM with exploratory factor analysis, confirmed criterion-referenced validity via correlations with age and other standardized test scores. Discriminant function analysis indicated acceptable classification accuracy. These findings suggest that NAPiM is a potentially useful tool for clinical and educational settings to facilitate the diagnosis of language impairment and to monitor growth in language development in Mandarin-speaking children.
Funding: Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Fund [15613323].
PS2F25
Do Parents of Autistic Children Adjust the Complexity of Their Utterances for Known versus Unknown Words?
Janine Mathee-Scott; Michigan State University
Grace Corrigan; Michigan State University
Zachary Hesse; Michigan State University
Jennifer Johnson; Michigan State University
Courtney Venker; Michigan State University
The linguistic fine-tuning hypothesis suggests that parents adjust their input to their child’s language level. Work with other populations has demonstrated this type of fine-tuning in parents, but its application to parents of autistic children has yet to be fully explored. The present study investigated the linguistic complexity of parents’ utterances containing words which they reported that their autistic children did and did not know. Findings indicate that during 10-minute naturalistic, play-based language samples, parents of autistic children (2-5 years old) use similar levels of linguistic complexity (as measured by MLU) when talking about nouns and verbs that they report their children do and do not know. Parents do, however, appear to modulate the overall complexity of their linguistic input to the overall complexity of their child’s language, regardless of whether they are talking about a noun or verb that is known by their child, as evidenced by significant associations between Parent MLU in both known and unknown utterances and overall Child MLU. Findings and future directions may have important implications for intervention.
Funding sources: NIH R01DC020165; R21DC016102
PS2F26
Language shapes emotion socialization in bilingual mothers and preschoolers
Jessica Chuang; Northwestern University
Sirada Rochanavibhata; San Francisco State University
Viorica Marian; Northwestern University
Caregivers commonly engage children in emotion socialization via language. Understanding how language shapes emotion socialization in bilinguals can support clinicians in providing culturally appropriate services to families from diverse linguistic backgrounds. We investigated how language context influences emotion socialization in 26 Thai-English bilingual mothers and their four-year-old children (3;11–5;0) in Thailand. Parent-child dyads participated in two prompted reminiscing sessions, one in Thai and one in English. Results revealed that bilingual mothers and children discussed and displayed emotions differently across languages. Mothers discussed their children’s emotions more frequently and displayed more positive emotion behaviors (e.g., smiling) in English. Children also discussed their own emotions more often and displayed more positive emotion behaviors (e.g., laughing) in English. Mothers’ expressiveness varied across languages based on their baseline expressiveness in Thai, while children’s emotion discussions and positive emotion behaviors consistently increased in English. These findings suggest that culture-specific norms for emotion talk and behavior may be cued by language of interaction, highlighting the importance of considering children and their families’ language profiles in social-emotional interventions and parent coaching programs.
Funding source: NICHD R01HD059858
PS2F27
Comparing the Effects of Aerobic Physical Activity to Iconic Movement in Teaching Vocabulary to Children with Down Syndrome
Jessica Mattingly; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Krystal Werfel; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Although vocabulary is often delayed in children with Down syndrome, little is known regarding effective vocabulary intervention. Aerobic (Mellor & Morini, 2023) and iconic physical activity (Toumpaniari et al., 2015) significantly improve word learning in typically developing children. Different types of physical activity in vocabulary intervention for children with Down syndrome have not been studied. We compare the effects of aerobic movement to iconic movement on the word learning of children with Down syndrome. Children with Down syndrome between the ages of 3 and 6 years participate in an adapted-alternating treatment single-case design study. Children participate in daily iconic and aerobic movement interventions targeting 6 verbs. Performance is assessed using daily vocabulary probes, asking the children to label pictures of the vocabulary targets. Visual analysis of data will be used to discuss findings, which will serve to shape vocabulary intervention for children with Down syndrome. Implications and further suggestions for clinical planning will be discussed.
Funding was provided by the NIH-NIDCD (T32-DC000013: Chatterjee).
PS2F28
An EEG investigation into the semantic memory structure in hard-of-hearing children
Jina Kim; University of Iowa
Elizabeth Walker; University of Iowa
Cole Callen; University of Iowa
Kristi Hendrickson; University of Iowa
The current study explored semantic structure in children who are hard of hearing (CHH) compared to children with normal hearing (CNH), an area critically under-studied despite its significant influence on vocabulary skills. Utilizing a picture-word match EEG paradigm, participants were presented with a picture and a matched word (a picture of dog with a word of dog) or a non-matched word varying in violation (Near: cat, Far: bird, Between category: apple, with a picture of a dog). We analyzed peak latency and mean amplitudes of N400 components across groups and violation conditions. CHH elicited delayed peak latency compared to children with normal hearing (CNH) in all violation conditions. In addition, while mean amplitude increases aligned with violation severity in CNH, CHH did not show this pattern. Time-frequency analyses focusing on theta band activities supported these findings, revealing a graded increase in theta power in response to violations compared to the match condition in CNH. In contrast, this increase was absent in CHH. These combined results suggest that CHH may have less finely tuned semantic organization relative to their hearing peers.
Funding: Hearing Health Foundation Grant
PS2F29
Diagnostic Accuracy of VALLS: A Language-Literacy Screening Tool
Jissel Anaya; The Ohio State University
Emily Solari; University of Virginia
Early identification of Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is crucial for intervention success, yet efficient universal screening tools remain scarce. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of VALLS (Vocabulary And Language Literacy Screening System), a novel screening battery assessing both language and literacy skills. The VALLS battery was administered to 783 children (ages 3-11) across 42 educational sites, with performance compared to the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) as the reference standard. Results demonstrated that optimal combinations of VALLS subtests achieved sensitivity of 88-100% and specificity of 80-95%. The highest performing four-subtest combination showed 100% sensitivity and 90% specificity while maintaining efficient administration time (15-20 minutes). These findings suggest VALLS offers clinically acceptable diagnostic accuracy as a screening tool, potentially addressing the critical need for universal DLD screening in educational settings.
Funding Source: Virginia Department of Education
PS2F30
Characterization of Functional Connectivity Networks derived from fNIRS Frontal Lobe Hemodynamics in Young Adults with and without Developmental Language Disorder
Paulina Skolasinska; McGill University
Julia Evans; University of Texas at Dallas
Brain imaging studies suggest that a neurobiological marker of developmental language disorder (DLD) in young adults may be a pattern of behavioral performance that overlaps with typical controls but is linked to abnormal patterns of brain structure and function. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an emerging imaging technology that holds promise for studying brain activation among individuals with communication disorders in naturalistic settings. We previously observed an abnormal frontal hemodynamic response for two young adults with DLD. Graph theory provides a powerful framework to examine the local and global organization of functional brain networks and to identify potential atypical functional connectivity (FC) between brain regions in DLD. FC networks were derived from the frontal lobe hemodynamic response function (HRF) time series for the two adults with DLD and compared to 20 age- and gender-matched typical language controls (TLC) on a verbal 2-back working memory task. Individual standardized z-scores for the DLD participants revealed atypical patterns of both FC strength and modularity that uniquely differentiated the two participants with DLD and low-performing TLC.
This project was funded by NIDCD K18-DC021149 (Evans)
PS2F31
Trajectory of Receptive and Expressive Vocabulary in Infants and Toddlers with Down Syndrome: Insights into the Emergence of First Words and the First 25 Words
Kai-Yun Huang; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Daniela Fanta; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Laura J. Mattie; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Background/Rationale: Children with Down syndrome (DS) show language delays with first words emerging on average at 18 months, while receptive language develops earlier. The current study explored vocabulary growth trajectories in young children with DS. Methods: Participants were 35 young children with DS, with 23 followed longitudinally. Mothers reported children’s vocabulary using the CDI at each time point. Results: A pattern of increasing growth was observed for receptive and expressive vocabulary, but only the receptive growth model was significant. Descriptive exploration of expressive vocabulary indicated the mean age children in our sample produced one or more spoken words was 19.86 months. Two children reached the first 25 words milestone at 24 months, and only 7 children had 25 words or more at 30 months. Conclusions: Participants showed slow growth in expressive vocabulary and developed receptive vocabulary more quickly. Efforts to focus early interventions on pre-linguistic skills along with the use of AAC, can improve language outcomes.
Funding Source: ASPIRE University of South Carolina, Campus Research Board University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, CHAD Pilot Grant University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
PS2F32
Sentence Imitation in Children with DLD: Insights into Relative Clause Production in Czech
Klára Matiasovitsová; Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Filip Smolík; Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
The aim of this research is to examine:
1) The extent to which sentence imitation (SI) captures knowledge of specific syntactic structures by comparing performance in SI with comprehension and production tasks.
2) Whether difficulties with RCs in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) stem from challenges with inflectional morphology or complex syntax by comparing the production of relative clauses (RCs) and adjectival phrases, which share certain inflectional features in Czech.
Sixty-three Czech-speaking children with DLD (ages 6;5-9;6) were matched by gender and vocabulary with typically developing children (3;7-6;7).
Linear regression revealed relations between the ability to comprehend, produce, and imitate RCs and adjectival phrases. GLMM showed similar patterns of structure avoidance and ungrammatical target word use in children with DLD across SI and the elicited production task. Compared to typically developing children, they also more often avoided RCs, omitted wh-words, used wh-words and adjectives ungrammatically, and substituted wh-words with non-inflected substitutions.
These findings suggest that sentence imitation reflects knowledge of specific structures and that children with DLD face syntactic challenges with RCs, along with difficulties with inflectional morphology.
PS2F33
Identifying Developmental Language Disorder in Mandarin-Speaking Children: A Community-Based Multi-phase Multi-method Study
Jingdan Yang; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Haolun Luo; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Rumi Wang; The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
Li Sheng; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Developmental language disorder (DLD) in under-identified in English speaking countries, partly due to low awareness among parents and teachers of the boundary between normal and impaired language development. In this large-scale community-based multi-phase study, we collected functional communication measures from parents (n=4664) using the Chinese Children’s Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2), performed universal language screening using a validated tool, the Mandarin Sentence Repetition Task (MSRT) (n=1459), completed comprehensive language testing (n=274), and conducted clinician consensus judgment of DLD. We addressed three objectives: estimating prevalence of communication and language difficulties (CLD), examining the alignment between parent-reported communication skills (CCC-2) and performance on the MSRT, and determining DLD prevalence. Results indicated that approximately 10% of children had CLD according to CCC-2. Consistent with previous studies, parent reports and standardized testing outcomes showed weak correlations. Lastly, 8.02% of the 1459 children who participated in screening were identified as DLD by clinician consensus diagnosis. These findings replicated previous studies and highlighted the need of universal screening for early identification of DLD.
Funded by Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Fund [15613323].
PS2F34
Effect of Age in Preposition Development in Children with Developmental Language Disorder: A Comparative Study
Lucy Agbo; University of South Florida
Lourdes Martinez Nieto; A.T. Still University
Maria Adelaida Restrepo; University of South Florida
Introduction
Prepositions are essential for constructing meaningful sentences and establishing spatial contexts, yet children with developmental language disorder (DLD) often face challenges in this area. This study investigates the influence of age and gender on preposition usage among bilingual children, specifically comparing those with DLD to their typically developing (TD) peers.
Research Questions
1. Do growth patterns of prepositions significantly vary between DLD and TD groups across different ages?
2. Do Children with DLD show significant differences in their use of simple and complex prepositions compared to their TD peers?
3. Is there an impact of age, gender, and group on the overall frequency of prepositions use?
Methods
Narrative retells of language samples from 30 bilingual Spanish-English children with 15 DLD and 15 TD children were examined. Prepositions were categorized as total, simple, or complex. Preliminary findings show that patterns of preposition usage can help in identifying DLD, revealing significant age-related influences. The results will enhance our understanding of language development in children with DLD and inform early assessment, equipping educators, and clinicians with valuable insights for effective support strategies.
PS2F35
Exploring the use of the Quick Interactive Language Screener (QUILS) in young autistic children
Mia DiGiorgio; Emerson College
Rhiannon Luyster; Emerson College
Sudha Arunachalam; New York University
Assessing language understanding in young autistic children presents unique challenges. The Quick Interactive Language Screener (QUILS) is a novel tool designed to assess vocabulary knowledge and word learning, but its validity in autistic children remains largely unexplored. This study evaluates the QUILS’ effectiveness in this population by analyzing its internal subtest correlations, as well as associations with the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (MBCDI). Thirty-seven autistic children (9 female, mean age = 55.79 months) participated, completing the QUILS assessment on a home computer. Caregivers filled out the MBCDI Words and Sentences. Results revealed strong associations among QUILS subtests (R = 0.71–0.73, p < .00001), suggesting internal consistency. A moderate, statistically significant correlation was found between the QUILS Vocabulary percentile and the MBCDI Understands+Says percentile (R = 0.40, p = 0.016), although QUILS did not correlate significantly with MBCDI Understands Only scores. Findings from this study suggest QUILS appears to be a cohesive measure in young children with autism but does not fully converge with other receptive language measures.
PS2F36
Neural deficits in shape and movement perception in school-aged children with developmental language disorder (DLD)
Natalya Kaganovich; Purdue University
Jennifer Schumaker; Purdue University
Kelsey Smart; Purdue University
Earlier work in our lab showed that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) struggle to match heard words with silent articulations, which is an essential skill for audiovisual speech perception. We asked whether the above deficit results from a less effective encoding of visual information necessary for successful lip reading. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from a group of school-aged children with DLD (n=19) and their age-matched peers with typical development (TD, n=19) while they watched a cartoon character change its shape, mouth movement, and/or color. Children pressed one button for 1-feature changes (e.g., only movement) and another button for 2-feature changes (e.g., shape and color). The P2 ERP component to shape and movement changes was reduced and delayed in children with DLD compared to children with TD. Furthermore, larger neural responses to 2- vs. 1-feature changes occurred almost 200 ms later in children with DLD. These results suggest that audiovisual speech processing challenges in children with DLD may stem from deficits in the sensory encoding of visual information essential for lip reading.
Funded by NIH NIDCD grant R01DC017017.
PS2F37
The Impact of an Introductory Dose of Neurosequential Model Concepts on Speech-Language Pathologist Trauma-Informed Perspectives and Practices During Language Therapy
Nicole Hoopes; Texas Christian University
Emily Lund; Texas Christian University
Adversity in childhood can impact language, social communication, literacy and executive functioning skills (Lum et al., 2015; Snow, McLean, et al., 2020; Hyter, 2021). SLPs are likely to encounter children who have experienced adversity but receive little training in trauma-informed practices (Rupert & Barlett, 2022). An effective trauma-informed framework is the Neurosequential Model (e.g., Johannessen et al., 2024), however; the full certification is costly and timely. The aim of this study was to determine (a) how SLPs receive information on trauma and its impact on communication skills (b) SLP current behavior management strategies during language activities and (c) if 1 introductory dose of Neurosequential Model concepts impacts clinician’s responses to case-based behavior-management scenarios during language intervention. A randomized pre-test, post-test crossover design was used. Pre-test and post-test activities included SLP responses to student behaviors in language therapy. Analysis of within subject and between subject responses give insight into training necessary to change SLP practices during language therapy.
This project is funded by Project INTERSECT, a leadership training grant funded by the Office of Special Education Programs.
PS2F38
Age-related changes in the effect of vocabulary structure on children’s word learning
Ron Pomper; Michigan State University
Michael Vitevitch; University of Kansas
Karla McGregor; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Research using network science demonstrates that the phonological structure of children’s vocabularies predicts the order in which they learn words. The current project tests model predictions that an important transition occurs around 8 years of age (Siew & Vitevitch, 2020). Participants were 19 5- to 7-year-old children and 18 8- to 10-year-old children with typical language development (TLD). Children were taught novel words that differed in clustering coefficient, C, which measures interconnectivity in phonological neighborhoods. The effect of condition (low C vs. high C) was significant only for the younger [b = 0.11, F(1,47.25) = 4.26, p = 0.04], but not older children [p = 0.68]. Phonological overlap in interconnected neighborhoods (high C) may make learning easier for young children who do not know many words. For older children who know more words, however, this overlap creates competition between similar-sounding words. Data collection for children with Developmental Language Disorder (n=8) is ongoing. With the full sample, children with DLD will be compared to age- and vocabulary-matched peers with TLD.
PS2F39
Calculating Mean Length Utterance: Is Artificial Intelligence the Way Forward?
Sabrina Horvath; Medical University of South Carolina
Valeri Doleski; College of Charleston
In this exploratory study, we asked whether artificial intelligence can reliably calculate the mean length utterance (MLU) of toddlers’ language samples. Ten transcripts from a previously published study were examined (Valian, 1991; available on CHILDES: MacWhinney, 2000). We calculated the actual MLU for each transcript using CLAN software. Then, each transcript was entered into ChatGPT six times with varied prompts to elicit MLU. This process was repeated on a second day, resulting in 12 ChatGPT entries per transcript. In 120 total attempts, ChatGPT correctly calculated the MLU 0% of the time. The MLU calculated by ChatGPT would have resulted in a misidentification of the child’s Brown’s Stage in 78% of instances (94/120). Comparing Day 1 and Day 2 data, ChatGPT provided the same MLU provided the exact same prompt in 0% of opportunities. We conclude that, at present, ChatGPT is not a reliable way to calculate MLU. However, future research is warranted as artificial intelligence continues to evolve.
Funding: Internal startup fund.
PS2F40
Vocabulary Assessment of Young Bilingual Autistic Children: Leveraging CDI Adaptations for Variants of Arabic
Samantha Ghali; MUSC
This study assessed vocabulary skills in bilingual autistic Arabic-English speaking children using CDI adaptations across Arabic variants.
This works was funded by an ASHFoundation Graduate Student Scholarship and NIDCD.
PS2F41
Sentence Repetition of Grammatically Complex Stimuli in Individuals with Down Syndrome
Sophie Wolf; The Pennsylvania State University
Carol Miller; The Pennsylvania State University
Colleen Williams; The Pennsylvania State University
Jenna DiMasi; The Pennsylvania State University
Krista Wilkinson; The Pennsylvania State University
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) often demonstrate expressive morphosyntactic challenges, which may not be fully captured by traditional sentence repetition scoring. This study examines sentence repetition of grammatically complex stimuli in individuals with DS as part of a larger project investigating the impact of phenotypic characteristics of trisomy 21 on speech, language, and swallowing. Participants repeated five types of syntactically complex phrases: (1) subject-verb-object with two auxiliaries, (2) subject-verb-object with two auxiliaries and negation, (3) passives, (4) bi-clausal structures, and (5) object-relative clauses. First, the proportion of morphemes produced relative to the target was calculated. Then, transcriptions were analyzed using a binary coding system (0/1) to determine retention of syntactic constituents. We then identified substitutions made for retained elements (coded as 1), providing insight into syntactic variation. Findings highlight patterns of syntactic retention and omission, offering a richer understanding of morphosyntactic processing in DS beyond accuracy-based scoring. This approach provides insights into expressive language abilities in DS and has important implications for assessment and intervention.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The Pennsylvania State University; Supported by NIH grant 1R01DC020622-01A1
PS2F42
Receptive Language Skills and Conversational Turns as Predictors of ASD Diagnosis in Emerging Communicators
Syrina Merilan-Mundava; Georgia State University
Rose Sevcik; Georgia State University
Maryann Romski; Georgia State University
Using archival data from 88 parent-child dyads, all of whom were initially diagnosed with developmental disabilities other than ASD, this study investigates whether receptive language skills and conversational turn counts during a 12-week intervention can predict a later ASD diagnosis. The results suggest that changes in conversational turns were not a significant predictor of ASD diagnosis, and greater receptive language skills were associated with a lower likelihood of being diagnosed with ASD. Furthermore, nearly half of the children initially diagnosed with an unknown condition and global developmental delay received an ASD diagnosis post-intervention. However, those diagnosed with genetic or neurological conditions were far less likely to be diagnosed with ASD. These findings highlight the challenges in early ASD diagnosis for emerging communicators and suggest that receptive language assessments, in combination with other diagnostic tools, may help distinguish between ASD and other developmental disorders.
The data were sourced from an archival dataset funded by the National Institute of Health Grant DC-03799, and The U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences Grant R324A070122.
Poster Session #3 - Saturday, May 31 at 8:30 AM
PS3S01
Does Retrieval Practice Promote Word Leaning in Autistic Children? An Initial Investigation
Eileen Haebig; Louisiana State University
Laurence Leonard; Purdue University
Retrieval-based practice has been found to dramatically enhance learning. Although studies have examined retrieval practice in a few pediatric special populations and found its utility in promoting learning, no previous study has examined whether retrieval practice promotes learning in autistic children. We examined two learning conditions, repeated study and repeated spaced retrieval, to examine word learning abilities in young autistic children. Seven autistic children participated in the current study (mean age 5.27 years). The children had normal nonverbal cognition and all but one had impaired structural language abilities. Four words were taught using a repeated study and four through repeated spaced retrieval. The children demonstrated learning in both conditions, with near-ceiling performance on the receptive measure and more modest learning demonstrated in the expressive measures. Though performance tended to be higher in the RSR condition relative to the RS condition, these differences were not statistically significant. This initial investigation highlights the need for further research into the role of retrieval practice in leaning in autistic children, with a particular focus on examining learning of word meaning.
Funding: R21DC018872-01A1
PS3S02
Predicting Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children’s Syntactic Skills from Vocabulary Lexicons
Adriana Valtierra; Vanderbilt University
Mary S. Dietrich; Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Julie Bustos; Kansas State School for the Deaf
Angie Walker; Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Jena McDaniel; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Identifying which deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children will demonstrate below-age-expected language skills is an important step towards improving the language outcomes of this population. Previous research suggests that early vocabulary size, in particular verb lexicon derived from caregiver-report or language sampling, is a strong predictor of children’s later syntactic skills. The current analysis evaluated this relation in English-speaking DHH children to identify the strongest predictor of which children are likely to warrant language intervention.
This study involved secondary analysis of a subset of 29 DHH children participating in a longitudinal study on language development. We used several hierarchical regressions to compare the variance in later syntactic skills explained by noun and verb lexicons derived from (a) caregiver-report and (b) language samples at earlier ages. Results suggest that for nouns, language sample-derived lexicons do not account for additional variance in syntactic skills beyond caregiver-reported lexicons. However, for verbs, lexicons derived from language sampling and caregiver-report may both be needed to predict later syntactic skills. Clinical and research considerations are discussed.
Funding: U.S. Department of Education (H325D220072), NIDCD (R01DC021188)
PS3S03
What Do Stories Tell Us About Language and Behavior in School-age Children? A Cross-Disorder Comparison
Alexandra Hollo; West Virginia University
Children with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often struggle with higher-order language needed to function academically and socially. In fact, children with developmental language disorders (DLD) are often indistinguishable from those with EBD on standardized global language assessments. However, narrative assessment offers a promising means of differentiating these groups in meaningful ways. The decontextualized nature of storytelling requires children to integrate complex linguistic and cognitive skills such as using complex syntax and abstract vocabulary for sequencing, perspective-taking, emotion recognition, and problem solving. In addition to standardized measures from story retell and generation tasks, language sample analysis may provide unique insight into children’s social-cognitive skills. Therefore, the current study compares narratives among three age- and gender-matched groups of school-aged children: with or at risk for EBD, with DLD, or with no previously identified disabilities (ND). Results point to differential use of internal state language as a potential avenue for distinguishing the groups and developing tailored assessments and interventions.
This study was funded internally by the first author’s institution.
PS3S04
Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to Intervention for SLPs who Serve Adolescents with Developmental Language Disorders
Amy Peterson; University of Wyoming
Kelly Farquharson; Florida State University
Erin Bush; Florida State University
Despite a dearth of intervention specifically designed for adolescents with developmental language disorders (DLD), speech-language pathologists (SLPs) feel confident in their ability to support student success (Peterson et al., 2020; Peterson et al., 2024). Implementation science studies the application of innovations investigated in controlled research settings and adoption into evidence-based practice in real-world settings (Damschroder et al., 2022; Fixsen et al., 2019). To explore how SLPs are currently meeting the needs of older students, this session explores the barriers and facilitators to best practice through a national survey. Participants (n = 118) responded to questions about their experience, caseload, and how practice is influenced by internal (e.g., ability to adapt programs, clinical expertise) and external factors (e.g., administrator knowledge of the SLP role, colleague support). Participants categorized 12 job factors as facilitators or barriers to practice and answered an open-ended question about the most significant factor in each area. Data analysis is ongoing utilizing the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR; Damschroder et al., 2022).
Project funded by an American Speech-Language-Hearing Advancing Academic and Research Careers Award.
PS3S05
Key Linguistic Predictors of Developmental Language Disorder Risk in Bilingual Assessment
Anna Soares; University of South Florida
Maria Adelaida Restrepo; University of South Florida
Shelley Gray; Arizona State University
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) affects 7–10% of children in the U.S., with bilingual children facing diagnostic challenges due to difficulties distinguishing language differences from disorders. The Spanish Screener for Language Impairment in Children (SSLIC) was developed to improve diagnostic accuracy in Spanish-English bilinguals. However, the validity was established with a measure that overidentified children. This study examined five SSLIC subtests with a new cut score—Sentence Repetition, Morphology, Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN), Nonword Repetition, and Antonyms—to identify the most predictive items for DLD risk. Logistic regression and discriminant function analyses identified Sentence Repetition and RAN as the strongest subtests for identifying children at risk for DLD, while items within Sentence Repetition and Morphology emerged as the most significant predictors. This reduced set of SSLIC items achieved 85% classification accuracy, demonstrating strong diagnostic potential. Findings contribute to refining SSLIC, enhancing classification efficiency and DLD identification in bilingual children.
PS3S06
Characterizing Error-Monitoring in Children with Developmental Language Disorder
Annika Schafer; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Asiya Gul; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Lauren Baron; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Ziyi Cao; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Shivani Patel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Kelsey Black; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Yael Arbel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Introduction: Learning language is a process that necessarily includes both the commission and correction of errors; therefore, language learning relies on internal error-monitoring abilities and external feedback processing. In the 7% of children who have Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), language-learning is impeded. Previous research has established atypical neural differentiation to error-commission in children with DLD, and this research seeks to further characterize error processing in DLD.
Research questions: This investigation will aim to (1) characterize the relationship between neurophysiological, behavioral, and parent-report measures of EF and error-monitoring, and (2) compare neurophysiological differences between high and low performers on an inhibition task.
Methods: 123 school-aged children (38 with DLD; 85 with TD) completed a speeded-response Flanker task while their brain activity was recorded using EEG.
Analysis: After analyzing EEG data using EEGLAB and MATLAB and behavioral data using E-Prime and Excel, the authors conducted ANOVA, regression, and correlation analyses on R to characterize the error-monitoring system in children with DLD.
This work was funded by NIDCD R01DC018295 awarded to Yael Arbel and NIDCD F32DC020095 awarded to Lauren Baron.
PS3S07
Influence of Maternal Education on Treatment Success in Children with Developmental Language Disorder
Arena Haught; University of Arizona
Elena Plante; University of Arizona
One successful intervention for children with Developmental Language Disorder is conversational recast, which is used for the correction of grammatical errors. We are interested in seeing if mother’s education influences children’s outcomes in treatment, given that literature has found that mother’s education level impacts young children’s language skills. This study included 57 children with Developmental Language Disorder, ages 48 months to 74 months. Mother’s educational levels varied between 11 years to 17 years. This was used as a proxy for socio-economic status as mother’s education level has been found to have a stronger relation to language development than other aspects of SES. We correlated mother’s education with an effect size that represented individual treatment gains to determine the role of this component of socio-economic status on treatment outcomes. A low Bayesian correlation of .018 and a Bayes Factor of 5.998 provided moderate evidence supporting the idea that SES was not associated with treatment outcomes.
The treatment research was supported by NIH grants R01 DC015642 (E. Plante, PI). The first author (A. Haught) receives support through R25 DC 020920.
PS3S08
Effects of Vocabulary Intervention on Comprehension for 3rd Grade Students with Language Learning Disorders
BeckyAnn Harker; Monmouth University
There has been much research to support the use of explicit instruction in vocabulary to improve comprehension in elementary school students, but little that focused on students with developmental language delay (DLD) or specific learning disabilities (SLD) in reading. This study was a repeated acquisition design (RAD) of three 3rd grade students with language learning disorders (LLDs; DLD and/or SLD). Each week, for eight weeks (three weeks of baseline and five weeks of treatment), students received explicit instruction on a different set of vocabulary words to determine the effects on word learning and comprehension of passages using those words. Results found significant gains in word learning, but no significant effects on comprehension. Following a maintenance phase, students lost knowledge of the learned words, though they demonstrated a small gain over the original pretest knowledge of those words. The negative effects on comprehension could be due to the assessment measure or the need for more than just vocabulary interventions (e.g., background knowledge and/or sentence structure) for this population of students.
No funding was obtained for this study.
PS3S09
Inhibitory Control and Oral Reading in Down Syndrome: A Preliminary Analysis
Brittany Ciullo; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Jill Hoover; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin Madison
Amy Banasik; University of Wisconsin Madison
Emelia Ferguson; University of Massachusetts Amherst
Children with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit a unique profile of strengths and challenges. While they demonstrate a relative strength in inhibitory control within the domain of executive functioning, they experience significant challenges with word reading. The relationship between inhibitory control and word reading in DS is not well understood. The present study aims to fill that gap by examining the relationship between a lab-based inhibitory control measure, a parent-report measure of executive functions, and an oral reading task. Twenty-four participants with DS (ages 9-17) completed the Flanker Inhibitory Control Task, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF) questionnaire, and the NIH Toolbox Oral Reading Assessment. Preliminary findings suggest age-appropriate inhibitory control, while Oral Reading scores were significantly below average. We will examine individual variability to further explore the relationships between the inhibitory control measures and oral reading accuracy. This study has significant implications for intervention and offers insights into the unique strengths and challenges of children with DS.
This work was supported by NIDCD R01 DC019092 (MPIs: Hoover and Sterling), NICHD P50HD105353 (PI Chang).
PS3S10
Open-source tools for language environment analysis of Spanish-speaking families
Caitlyn Slawny; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Mandy Maguire; University of Texas – Dallas
Margarita Kaushanskaya; University of Wisconsin – Madisonr
Carlos Carlos Benítez-Barrera; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Wearable microphones, such as the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA), are commonly used to study children’s language exposure by quantifying speech in natural environments. LENA was developed and optimized for American English and has been validated for other languages, such as Spanish. However, LENA has limitations due to high cost and mandatory use of proprietary recorders and software, which restricts accessibility. Open-source automated analysis tools might offer an alternative, providing more accessible and accurate measures as they are free and trained on multiple languages. Correlations between LENA and open-source automated analyses have revealed similar key child, female adult, and male adult measures in English. However, it remains unknown whether this finding extends to Spanish. In this study, we compare LENA analyses to analyses performed using two open-source automated analysis tools—Voice Type Classifier (VTC) and Automatic Linguistic unit Count Estimator (ALICE)—on recordings obtained from thirty-nine Spanish-speaking preschoolers. Analyses are ongoing. The results will determine whether VTC and ALICE can serve as viable alternatives to the LENA system for estimating language exposure in children from Spanish-speaking backgrounds.
Funding: ASHFoundation; NIH R01DC021150
PS3S11
Mind the Gap: Understanding How a Speech-Language Pathologist Grammar Knowledge Affects Assessment
Daniel Ibarra; Texas Christian University
Emily Lund; Texas Christian University
Approximately half of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the United States work in a school-based setting (ASHA Membership Profile, n.d.; Ireland et al., 2024). SLPs are required to diagnose speech-language impairments while using assessment like the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, 5th Edition’s (CELF-5). However, SLPs require grammatical knowledge to score language assessments, yet research suggests variability in SLPs explicit grammatical knowledge, potentially affecting assessment scoring (Brimo & Melamed, 2017; Good, 2019). This study explores the SLPs’ ability to accurately and consistently score the Formulated Sentences subtest of the CELF-5 using their grammatical knowledge and the CELF-5 manual as well as the impact of scoring variability on overall CELF-5 Core Language scores. This study included school-based SLPs who use the CELF-5. SLPs completed an online questionnaire requiring participants to score three separate Formulated Sentences of the CELF-5. Data contributes to our understanding of how SLP grammar knowledge affect scoring a norm-referenced assessment frequently used for eligibility determinations.
This project is funded by Project Intersect a doctoral training grant funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
PS3S12 – WITHDRAWN
Investigating Narrative Skills using responses from questions: An insight into Macro and Micro structures of Language and Working Memory.
Diya Nair; University of Western Ontario
Lisa Archibald; University of Western Ontario
Narrative abilities refer to the telling of a story or an event. Despite the seeming simplicity of the task, narrative skills require complex language skills. Corroborating evidence for the role of complex language in narratives comes from findings that better narratives are produced by children performing higher on language tests (Paris and Paris, 2003; Silva et al., 2014). In narratives, story elements must be organized in a coherent way (known as macrostructure) in order to make sense of the story told and using sophisticated linguistics devices to improve the clarity of the story (known as microstructure) such as conjunctions, mental verbs and clearly referenced pronouns. Questions focused on macrostructure asked prior to narrative production have been reported to result in increases in macro- but not microstructure elements in 4-6 year olds (Silva and Cain, 2019). In contrast, Nair et al. (2024) reported that questions, irrespective of focus (macro-or microstructure), led to an increase in microstructure elements. The current study examined the relationship between macro- or microstructure question response accuracy, language skills, working memory abilities and children’s quality of narratives.
PS3S13
Reciprocal Influences of Caregiver Language Facilitation Strategies and Child Communication on Caregiver-Child Interactions
Emily Harrington; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Ann Kaiser; Vanderbilt University
Megan Roberts; Northwestern University
Pamela Hadley; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Although caregiver-implemented interventions have a positive impact on caregiver input and child language outcomes, the mechanisms underlying these sustained changes remain unclear. This study examines how child communication characteristics shape caregiver use of language facilitation strategies and how these strategies, in turn, influence children’s real-time communication during caregiver-child interactions (CCXs). All dyads (n=105) were participants in a clinical trial of children at high risk for developmental language disorder. Baseline CCXs were transcribed and coded for caregiver language facilitation strategies and child communication variables when children were 30 months of age. LASSO regression analyses revealed that children’s communicative rate and verbal imitation rate influenced caregiver use of vocabulary strategies, while communicative rate, intelligibility, and vocabulary diversity influenced sentence strategies. Mixed-effects logistic regression demonstrated that caregiver strategy use significantly increased children’s likelihood of spontaneous imitation on the next turn. These findings support a transactional perspective and warrant future consideration of reciprocal influences in CCXs as a potential driver of long-term intervention effects in caregiver-implemented interventions.
Funding: NIDCD U01DC017135; University of Illinois Graduate College Illinois Distinguished Fellowship
PS3S14
“Frog, um where are you?”: Factors that support fluency in preschoolers
Emma Libersky; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Grace Whelan Tweedt; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Margarita Kaushanskaya; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Speech disfluencies are a common feature of spontaneous language, occurring approximately five times per 100 words produced. Lexical and syntactic factors contribute to disfluency in adults, but less is known about the factors that underlie disfluency in children. Moreover, the impact of individual differences in language skills and working memory on disfluency remains poorly understood. We examined disfluency production in English-speaking preschoolers, asking how utterance-level (word count and word frequency) and subject-level (language skills and working memory capacity) factors contribute to disfluency production at the utterance level. Preliminary findings indicate that disfluencies are more likely in utterances that are longer and contain less common words, consistent with the adult literature.
This work was supported by NIH F31DC021386, NIH R01DC020447, and NSF BCS 2314555.
PS3S15
Influence of linguistic load in a highly scaffolded priming task on production errors in children with developmental language disorder and their typical peers
Erica Lescht; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Lisa Goffman; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) show deficits in language production, especially morphosyntax. Other developmental domains, such as motor skill and speech sound accuracy, are also affected. In the present experiment, children with DLD and typical development (TD) were asked to generate, via a highly scaffolded priming task, simple subject-verb-object sentences. Prior results showed that the relatively heavy processing load obligated by this task affected speech motor processing, as indexed by increased articulatory variability. One aim of the present study was to evaluate how this increased load affected sensitivity, accuracy, and variability in language production as sentences were generated in response to a prime. A second aim was to evaluate relationships between syntactic priming performance and speech, motor, and language skills. Children with DLD and TD showed difficulty with this task, and those with DLD especially with syntactic components. No significant relationships were found between any of the speech, motor, and language clinical measures and syntactic priming in children with DLD.
This work was funded by NIDCD R01DC016813 (PI: Goffman), R01DC004826 (PI: Goffman), and T32DC000013 (PI: Chatterjee; Trainee: Lescht).
PS3S16
A Novel Language Assessment Battery in Czech: Initial Evidence of Validity
Filip Smolík; Inst. of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences
Gabriela Málková; Charles University
Miroslava Schöffelová Nováková; Charles University
Alžbete Zemánková; Charles University
There has been no comprehensive diagnostic test of language development available in the Czech Republic until recently, and only few focused tools that could be used to examine verbal development. Assessment of language has often been based on verbal components of IQ scales such as the WISC. We report on the development of a novel battery for assessing language and pre-reading skills, including measures of receptive vocabulary, sentence comprehension, morphological production, nonword and sentence repetition, automatized naming, and phonological awareness. The battery was normed on a sample of 800 children aged 3 to 7, providing practitioners with a comprehensive method focused on the age range when communication delays and disorders become clearly apparent, and when decisions about the school entry must be made. We report on the internal validity of this new tool, as well as some preliminary evidence of criterion validity. The method provides an opportunity to examine the current diagnostic practice in Czechia, which is based primarily on qualitative clinical judgment and not norm-referenced tests.
PS3S17
Bilingual Educators and Speech-Language Pathologists Perspectives of Bilingual Learners’ Language Characteristics
Janelle Flores; University of Houston
Anny Castilla-Earls; University of Houston
Bilingual learners remain over-underrepresented in special education services (Ortiz et al., 2020; Hulse & Curran, 2020). While there are typically referral procedures in place to mediate this misrepresentation, few studies investigate the underlying causes that contribute to this disproportionality. This qualitative study aimed to identify the language characteristics of PK- 5th-grade bilingual learners considered for pre-referral and evaluation for speech-language services. Importantly, research that explores bilingual learners’ language characteristics from the perspective of bilingual educators (BEs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) is sparse and does not include both disciplines. Bilingual learners’ language characteristics were obtained via semi-structured open-ended interviews with BEs (n = 5) and SLPs (n = 5). While BEs broadly described bilingual learners’ language characteristics, SLPs used precise descriptions. Preliminary thematic analyses identified these common bilingual learners’ language characteristics: difficulties communicating, meeting developmental milestones, syntax (sentence structure), and limited vocabulary. These characteristics will assist in developing vignettes of bilingual learners for use in a broader study. By addressing this identified research gap, this study is crucial for expanding knowledge across disciplines and for improving culturally responsive prereferral-to-evaluation practices.
PS3S18
Recent over frequent: Autistic children demonstrate hyperplastic word learning profile compared to neurotypical peers
Janine Mathee-Scott; Michigan State University
Kathryn Prescott; University of Connecticut
Jenny Saffran; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Susan Ellis Weismer; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Autistic children demonstrate differences in word learning, though the mechanisms underlying these differences are largely unknown. Prediction-based theories of autism may elucidate some of these underlying mechanisms. One theory posits that autistic children overweight novel experience over aggregated prior experience (known as hyperplasticity). Given that children learn words in their natural environments, where input may be inconsistent, difficulty integrating inconsistent input might have profound impacts on word learning. The current study examined how difficulties aggregating inconsistent input might impact novel word learning in ASD. Twenty-nine autistic and 32 neurotypical (NT), cognitive-ability-matched children participated in an eyegaze task. Four novel words were taught, two with the same label at every exposure (consistent condition) and two with inconsistent labels on the final presentation (inconsistent condition). Both groups were able to learn novel words that were labeled consistently. Groups differed significantly in their learning of words labeled inconsistently. Whereas NT children looked toward the most cumulatively-probable object on inconsistent trials, autistic children were disrupted by the recent exposure, demonstrating hyperplasticity of learning (i.e., overweighting of recent over cumulative experience).
Funding: NIDCD R01DC017974; NIDCD F31DC020902; NIDCD F31DC020901.
PS3S19
Parent and Child Self-Report of Bilingual Experience and Proficiency: Patterns by Risk Status
John Gallagher; San Diego State University, University of California, San Diego
Amy Pratt; University of Cincinnati
Liz Peña; University of California, Irvine
Ashley Sanabria; San Diego State University
In bilingual language development, experience and proficiency data are crucial in characterizing individual child profiles. Recent evidence suggests that children’s self-report of these variables is significantly related to direct assessment of their language skills (Castilla-Earls et al., 2022). However, the relationship between parent report and child self-report is unknown, particularly for children at risk for language disorders. In the proposed submission, we administered questionnaires probing (1) bilingual experience (2) proficiency in Spanish, and (3) proficiency in English from 400 bilingual Spanish/English children in Pre-K through 3rd grade and from their parents. Preliminary correlations show significant, small-to-medium effects between reporters on all three variables. Multiple regressions were conducted to predict each child-reported variable from the corresponding parent-reported variable and risk status for language disorders to determine if the relationship between parent and child self-report differs by risk status. The utility of child self-report of experience and proficiency in research – particularly among those at risk for language disorders – will be presented.
Funding: IES R305A210136, OSEP H325D230037
PS3S20
Stimuli characteristics as a factor of working memory accuracy and reaction time in developmental language disorder (DLD)
Joshua Bailey; University of Missouri,
Maya Snyder; University of Missouri
Caroline Larson; University of Missouri
Individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) have lower verbal and nonverbal working memory relative to typically developing (TD) peers. This current study investigated how stimulus features rated along a continuum were associated with individual differences in accuracy and reaction time for TD versus DLD participants on working memory tasks. Findings indicate that higher ratings of verbality were associated with better reaction time and accuracy in TD and DLD groups, but this effect did not change by group. These findings are surprising as verbal cognition is considered an area of relative weakness in those with DLD and visuospatial cognition and area of relative strength. Future analyses should be conducted to reveal whether by-condition analyses yield patterns more similar to those hypothesized to account for WM difficulties in DLD.
PS3S21 – WITHDRAWN
+Language is Medicine: A Culturally Tailored Early Intervention to Prevent Developmental Delay in Diné Toddlers (9-24 Months)
Joshuaa Allison-Burbank; Johns Hopkins University
Elizabeth Kushman; Johns Hopkins University
Jessica Meese; Johns Hopkins University
Leandra Espeseth; Johns Hopkins University
Lisa Martin; Johns Hopkins University
Lisa Jim; Johns Hopkins University
Julie Soap; Johns Hopkins University
American Indian (AI) toddlers aged 9-24 months experience high rates of developmental delay (DD), leading to long-term educational and health disparities. +Language is Medicine (+LiM) is a culturally tailored language nutrition intervention designed to support at-risk Diné (Navajo) toddlers through structured caregiver coaching sessions delivered by trained Tribal Home Visitors (THVs). This pilot pre-/post-intervention study recruited 27 toddler-caregiver dyads, and pilot study data will be used to inform a future randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate improvements in language and social-emotional development, assess THV-administered standardized screenings, and gather caregiver feedback on intervention feasibility and acceptability. Rooted in Indigenous knowledge and evidence-based language facilitation strategies, +LiM aims to provide a scalable, community-driven approach to developmental screening and support, promoting culturally responsive early childhood interventions.
Funding Source: MacInnis Foundation, Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions (NIH)
PS3S22
Exploring parent and teacher reports of language abilities in Spanish-English bilingual kindergarten children
Kerry Ebert; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Eugene Wong; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Elizabeth Johnson; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Parent and teacher reports may both contribute to the identification of developmental language disorder (DLD) in bilingual populations. There has been little consideration to date of whether optimal cutpoints on these tools vary across different groups of children. This study explores the impact of different potential cutpoints for DLD concern on the Inventory to Assess Language Knowledge (ITALK; Peña et al., 2018) in a group of Spanish-English bilingual kindergarten children. We considered which children were identified as at risk of DLD by parents and by teachers, using cutpoints published with the ITALK as well as empirically-derived cutpoints for Spanish-English bilingual children published in a study of DLD identification (Pratt et al., 2022). The proportion of our sample identified as at risk of DLD differed notably across cutpoints and reporters. Associations between concern status and other English language assessment measures also differed across cutpoints and reporters. Parent and teacher reports remain promising components of bilingual language assessment, but optimal cutpoints may vary across different groups of bilingual children.
Funded by NIH R01DC019895
PS3S23
The relationship between social communication and expressive language among boys with Fragile X Syndrome
Latifatu Mohammed; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Marianne Elmquist; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Jill Hoover; University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Fragile X syndrome is among the leading inherited causes of intellectual disability. Additionally, individuals with Fragile X syndrome (FXS) may have a co-occurring autism diagnosis. FXS is characterized by cognitive deficits, language difficulties, and challenges with social communication, which is essential for establishing relations and maintaining connections. Social communication is the ability to communicate with others in a given societal framework. Examining the relationship between social communication and expressive language will potentially help us explain how changes in these variables affect social communication in individuals with FXS. Participants included 15 boys with FXS between the ages of 9 and 16 years. In this study, social communication skills were measured using the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2). We measured expressive language using both standardized assessments and variables derived from language samples. To analyze the results, correlations were used to examine the strength of the relationship between social communication and expressive language variables.
Funding: R01CC019092(MPI Sterling and Hoover)
PS3S24
Inter-Rater Agreement Across Speech-Language Pathologists on the TOLD-P:4 Oral Vocabulary Subtest
Lauren Acord; Vanderbilt University
Ashleigh Hayward; Vanderbilt University
C Melanie Schuele; Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) rely on norm-referenced assessments to make diagnostic decisions. Some states require a norm-referenced assessment be given as a part of a comprehensive assessment to determine eligibility as a “child with a disability.” Whereas some assessment tasks are straightforward in their administration and scoring (e.g., picture vocabulary), other tasks have greater opportunity for examiner variance in administration and scoring. Many SLPs assume commercially available norm-referenced assessments have been evaluated for reliability. Yet most assessments do not report rigorous evaluations of reliability. We evaluated inter-rater reliability of the Oral Vocabulary subtest from the Test of Language Development – Primary, 4th Edition (TOLD-P:4). We examined inter-rater agreement at the item level and the child level. The identified lack of inter-rater agreement argues for explicit manualized training to increase reliability on scoring tasks such as Oral Vocabulary and raises concerns as to the validity of clinical decisions based on the TOLD-P:4.
Funding: Project INTERSECT H325D230037; Project PAL H325D230072 US Department of Education.
PS3S25
The Effect of Language Ability on Children’s Cross-Situational Word Learning across Semantic Domains
Malvika Khandelwal; Boston University
Kimberly Crespo; Boston University
In the present study, we examined the effects of semantic density on CSWL performance in children with a range of language abilities. Participants completed a CSWL task in two conditions: high-density and low-density. In the high-density condition, children learned novel labels for low-frequency real animals (e.g., Crowned Sifaka). In the low-density condition, children learned novel labels for low-frequency real tools (e.g., cartridge puller). Word learning was tested immediately after exposure and after a 5-minute delay in a 2-alternative-forced-choice task. Preliminary results suggest that children’s initial word learning may be influenced by the semantic density of a category. However, this advantage may be a short-term boost rather than a durable learning outcome. Results also suggest that the short-term retention of novel words may be more strongly linked to children’s language ability than semantic density effects. Together, these findings suggest that the influence of semantic density and language ability on children’s statistical word learning may be dynamic.
This research was supported by NIDCD K23 DC022006 awarded to Kimberly Crespo and T32 DC013017 predoctoral fellowship awarded to Malvika Khandelwal.
PS3S26
The stability of automated communication variables derived from long-form audio recordings of young children with Down syndrome
Marianne Elmquist; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Andrea Ford; University of Cincinnati
Claudia Schabes; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Miriam Kornelis; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin – Madison
We often gather spontaneous speech, language, and communication samples from audio recordings to demonstrate that communication interventions are effective. From these samples, we then derive measurements of key communication and language variables. In hypothesis testing, we often presume these measurements are stable and reliable, infrequently moving beyond inter-rater reliability to confirm. Using long-form audio recordings from young children with DS, we empirically examined the contribution of two measurement conditions—(a) number of recordings (i.e., occasion) and (b) length of recordings (i.e., time)—to estimate of five communication variables: child vocal complexity, child vocal duration, child vocal frequency, child vocal reciprocity, and child vocal initiations. We conducted generalizability and decision studies to understand measurement stability of our current approach and when not stable, we calculated the number and length of recordings needed for future investigations. We will discuss measurement considerations when using long-form audio recordings to evaluate the efficacy of language interventions.
Funding: NICHD R21 HD111807-01 (MPIs Sterling & Finestack)
PS3S27
Predicting Late Talkers’ Response to Treatment from Characteristics of Their Lexicon
Sarah Lynn Neiling; University of Cincinnati
Sarah Cretcher; University of Arizona
Kimberly Leon; University of Arizona
Heidi M. Mettler; University of Illinois at Chicago
Lynn Perry; University of Miami
Katrina Nicholas; Nevada State University
Alexander Choi-Tucci; University of California, Irvine
Mary Alt; University of Arizona
We wanted to better understand late talkers’ lexicons and predict individual responses to treatment (RTT). We used data from 78 English-speaking late talkers who were part of the Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers treatment program. Knowing that not all words are created equal, we classified individual children’s expressive lexicons prior to treatment relative to the average age of acquisition (AoA) and verb:noun ratio, with the hypothesis that children who had lexicons with more ‘advanced’ lexical characteristics (i.e., later developing words and more verbs) would have better RTT. We defined response to treatment as the number of words a child learned per week on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory during their time in treatment. We used Bayesian linear regression to test our hypotheses and found a weakly predicted relation between average AoA and RTT, and no relation between verb:noun ratio and RTT. So, while the literature shows differences in the lexical make-ups of timely v. late talkers, the specific lexical differences we explored did not affect RTT for these late talkers.
This work was funded by NIH-NIDCD grant R01DC015642.
PS3S28
Links Between Fine Motor and Language in Late Talkers
Megan Tennessen; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Marianne Elmquist; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Claudia Schabes; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Miriam Kornelis; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Audra Sterling; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Research indicates that motor and language development are interconnected. Motor skills lay an important foundation for language and communication development. Thus, delays or impairments in motor skills can have cascading effects on language development. However, limited research explores the extent to which fine motor and language development are related in later talkers. The current study included children who were late talkers and neurotypical between the ages of two and three years. We examined late talkers’ fine motor and language profiles and the relationship between the two domains with a neurotypical group comparison using non-parametric statistics. Implications for intervention in children who are late to talk will be discussed.
Funding: NICHD R21 HD111807-01 (MPIs Sterling & Finestack), NICHD P50HD105353 (PI Chang), Vilas Life Cycle Award (Sterling), and start-up funds from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
PS3S29
Audiological Management and Language Outcomes in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children with Additional Disabilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Meganne Muir; Vanderbilt University
Fiona M. Higgins; Vanderbilt University
Jena McDaniel; Vanderbilt School of Medicine
Deaf and hard of hearing children with additional disabilities (DHH+) represent a significant yet under-researched population. Compared to their DHH-only peers, DHH+ children often experience greater challenges in language development and audiological management. However, outcomes remain variable, with studies’ generalizability limited by small sample sizes and inconsistent participant classification.
This meta-analysis quantifies differences in language and audiological outcomes between DHH+ and DHH-only children and examines potential moderators contributing to variability. Using robust variance estimation, DHH+ children scored significantly lower for language (Hedges’ g = -0.77, p < .01) and audiological outcomes (g = -0.46, p < .01) compared to DHH-only peers. The type of audiological outcome moderated this group difference. Other moderator effects, including language measure type, disability type and cognition, were not detected primarily due to limited and inconsistent reporting across studies.
Findings raise questions about whether current assessments accurately capture DHH+ children’s abilities or impose limitations based on neurotypical expectations. More precise classification of disabilities and cognition is needed to improve research interpretability and clinical relevance.
Funding: Project REACH (H325D220072) and Project PAL (H325D230072), U.S. Department of Education.
PS3S30
Selecting Initial Targets for Grammar Therapy
Melissa White; University of Arizona
Sarah Cretcher; University of Arizona
Rebecca Burton; University of Arizona
Elena Plante; University of Arizona
Basic research suggests that implicit knowledge about a native language can influence new learning. Children also learn about how to learn language in more general terms. We tested how children ‘learn to learn’ morphological markers in enhanced conversational recast therapy, in order to determine whether initially treating a grammatical morpheme that is already partially-acquired leads to quicker subsequent learning for a morpheme target that is rarely if ever used. Some children began intervention with a target that was partially acquired, then, after making progress, transitioned to a morpheme target that was not yet emerging. Other children began with a target that was not yet emerging. Children who began treatment with a partially-acquired target learned their second, non-emergent targets at a faster rate than students who started therapy with a non-emergent target. This suggests that initially training a grammatical morpheme that is already emerging may lead to quicker subsequent learning.
This project was funded through R01 DC015642
PS3S31
Spoken Word Recognition in Adults with Developmental Language Disorders
Mi Trinh; University of Iowa
J. Bruce Tomblin; University of Iowa
Kristi Hendrickson; University of Iowa
Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is characterized by difficulties in using and learning language. Deficits at the lexical level, specifically related to the dynamics of spoken word recognition, have been suggested to underlie the broad range of challenges observed in DLD. Previous work on spoken word recognition has shown that children with DLD show less activation for target words and maintain heightened parallel activation for competitor words (i.e., words that sounds the same as the target) late in processing compared to their typically developing peers. The current study seeks to examine whether these early differences in spoken word recognition persist into adulthood. Participants heard a word and clicked the corresponding image from a field of four: the target (e.g., “candy”), a phonological competitor (e.g., “candle”), and unrelated items. Unlike findings in children, adults with DLD showed similar activation of targets and competitors compared to their peers with typical language development. Results suggest that the early differences in spoken word recognition observed in childhood thought to underlie DLD are resolved in adulthood. An explanation for this finding is discussed.
Funding: NICHD R01DC020143
PS3S32
Step by Step: Developing an Objective Screener for Autism
Milijana Buac; Northern Illinois University
Noelle Veome; Northern Illinois University
Viviana Cortes; Northern Illinois University
Allison Gladfelter; Northern Illinois University
Michael Sensenbrenne; Northern Illinois University
John White; Northern Illinois University
Ziteng Wang; Northern Illinois University
Sinan Onal; Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
Autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder, can be diagnosed as early as 18 months but most children are diagnosed around 4-years old. A significant factor in delayed diagnosis is the lack of culturally and linguistically responsive screening tools. Most current autism screeners depend on subjective clinician and parent reports, which can introduce linguistic and cultural bias. In the present study, we aimed to design an objective, accessible, and culturally and linguistically responsive autism screening tool. We focused on motor skills, often an overlooked domain but autistic children across all backgrounds and genders are more likely to have motor differences compared to non-autistic peers. To date, we recruited 41 children, 16 autistic and 25 non-autistic. We recorded children walking and used OpenPose, an open-source posture modeling software, to extract gait parameters from the 2D videos. A machine learning model classified autism characteristics based on gait with 80-93% accuracy, 70-82% sensitivity, and 80-100% specificity. These preliminary findings demonstrate that video-based gait analysis is a promising tool for autism screening that is culturally and linguistically responsive.
This work was funded by the Illinois Innovation Network.
PS3S33
The Reliability of an Expressive Grammatical Language Probe for School-Age English Speakers
Miriam Kornelis; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Olivia Matthys; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Reliable and valid tools for measuring specific language skills are necessary for impairment identification, eligibility determination, treatment target selection, and intervention outcome measurement. Finestack and colleagues (NCT04902508) developed an expressive grammatical language probe to measure four morphosyntactic abilities that are common areas of weakness for children with language impairment. In the current study, we investigated the internal consistency and inter-rater reliability of the instrument. We randomly assigned and administered two parallel versions of the probe to 222 English-speaking 5- to 8-year-olds.
Between the two parallel forms subscores, participants scored relatively similarly, with slightly greater scores on Probe B. Internal consistency assessed the covariance among all test items with Cronbach’s alpha. The internal consistencies of the parallel forms were 0.921 and 0.904, demonstrating excellent internal consistency across all items within each probe. Inter-rater reliability assessed the correlation of scores by two independent scorers with intra-class coefficients. Establishing the psychometric properties of the grammatical language probe will inform its future use in practice and research.
This project was funded by NCT04902508.
PS3S34
Developmental Trends in Children’s Performance Across Four Domains of Prosody
Nahar Albudoor; The Ohio State University
Kara Hawthorne; Gallaudet University
Prosody, the rhythm and melody of speech, is crucial for communication but lacks comprehensive clinical assessment tools. This study examined developmental trends in prosody across four domains—non-linguistic, affective, grammatical, and pragmatic. Participants were 64 typically developing children ages 5–12 (data collection ongoing). Our findings showed that non-linguistic prosody tasks were mastered early with no developmental effects. Pragmatic and affective prosody improved with age, reflecting increasing cognitive demands. In contrast, grammatical prosody showed consistently high performance across ages, while lexical stress remained the most challenging with no clear developmental trends. These results refine our understanding of prosodic development and support SLPs in assessing prosodic impairments.
PS3S35 – WITHDRAWN
Increased Evidence that Teachers’ Use of Talk Moves Impacts Students’ Oral Language and Participation in the Classroom
Rachel Benninger; Western University
Theresa Pham; Western University
Lisa Archibald; Western University
Talk in the classroom is important for leaning and developing complex language. Encouraging students to participate in classroom discussion can be challenging, despite the benefits of effective classroom talk. One tool to encourage classroom discussion is the use of talk moves, a set of sentence starters that can be used to support student complex language use and participation. This project provides a secondary analysis of an existing dataset of mathematics lesson transcripts in which teachers use talk moves with minimal training. Transcripts were coded for the use of talk moves, and measures of student complex language use and participation were calculated. Teacher talk move use was also compared to use of the initiation-response-evaluation sequence. Preliminary results indicate that, with minimal training, teachers use talk moves more than the initiation-response-evaluation sequence. Teacher use of specific talk moves and student measures of oral language complexity and participation are explored. Talk moves are a useful tool for encouraging classroom discussion and participation, which in turn supports student complex language development.
Funding provided by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship.
PS3S36
What did you notice there? Assessing caregivers’ strengths and needs in identifying and describing communication attempts for children with delayed language skills
Rebecca Alper; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Emma Grindle; University of Wisconsin-Madison
Early intervention often includes caregiver coaching as a tool for shaping a child’s language-learning environment. Although caregiver coaching is broadly effective, differences in the child, caregiver, and in clinician–caregiver alignment can contribute to individual differences in intervention outcomes. For example, to implement language-facilitation strategies (e.g., expansions) caregivers must recognize and respond to children’s communication attempts. Underlying this skill is the need for clinicians to understand and support caregivers’ interpretations of communicative attempts. Systematically quantifying caregivers’ understanding of and skills in identifying adult and child communication is essential to individualized clinician scaffolding of language-facilitation strategies. The purpose of this study is to design and pilot the Behavioral Awareness Task (BAT), designed to evaluate caregivers’ strengths and needs when identifying adult and child communication attempts. Specifically, we aim to explore whether behavioral awareness is associated with language interaction quality in caregivers with children who have delayed language skills with and without autism (2;6-4:0) as well as typically developing, language-matched peers.
This study was funded by NIH/NIDCD (K23DC017763).
PS3S37
Statistical Learning with Inner Speech Suppression in Children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
Ziyi Cao; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Kelsey Black; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Annika Schafer; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Lauren Baron; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Asiya Gul; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Shivani Patel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Yael Arbel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Statistical learning (SL) is often considered implicit and automatic, but some argue that explicit processes (e.g., inner speech, working memory) may play a supplementary or distractive role in commonly used SL tasks. This study investigates how suppressing inner speech affects statistical learning of grammar-like sequences in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).
Children with and without DLD (ages 8;0–12;1) completed an aXb/cXd grammar learning task, followed by an immediate and one-week follow-up test. Participants were randomly assigned to an inner-speech-suppression condition or a no-suppression control condition. The suppression group vocalized an irrelevant word (e.g., “tea”) to inhibit inner speech.
Preliminary results from the immediate test showed above-chance learning in both groups in no-suppression condition. In the follow-up test, TD children improved, while DLD children’s performance dropped to chance, indicating impaired consolidation. Among children with TD, participants in the no-suppression condition performed better than those in the suppression condition. These results suggest a differential effect of suppression on SL performance in children with and without DLD.
This work was funded by NIH NIDCD grant R01DC018295 (PI: Arbel).
PS3S38
The Diagnostic Contributions of Play-Based Language Sample Measures of Morphosyntax at 36 Months
Campbell Patterson; Purdue University
Risa Stiegler; Purdue University
Mariel Schroeder; Purdue University
Sharon L. Christ; Purdue University
Claney Outzen; Purdue University
Barbara Brown; Purdue University
MaryCarson Adams; Purdue University
Philip R. Curtis; Purdue University
Pat Deevy; Purdue University
Laurence Leonard; Purdue University
Arielle Borovsky; Purdue University
Tense and agreement morphemes (TAMs) present particular difficulty for children with language delays (LD) compared to typically developing (TD) peers. TAM skills are often assessed in research using measures like the Finite Verb Morphology Composite (FVMC) and Productivity Score (PS), but language samples in research settings are frequently longer than those feasible to collect in clinical settings. We ask whether the FVMC and PS derived from briefer, 15-minute language samples accurately identify 36-mo-old children with LD.
We found that 15-min-derived FVMC and PS measures had good sensitivity (76%) and specificity (75%) in identifying 36-mo-olds with LD vs TD when used together. Further, we found moderate associations between the FVMC and PS and the SPELT-2, a standardized measure of morphosyntactic skill (FVMC: r=0.53; p=.00; PS: r=0.51; p=.00). Relatively low associations were found between the FVMC and PS and the CELF-P3, a standardized measure of comprehensive language ability (FVMC: r=0.39; p=.00; PS: r=0.39; p=.00). Together, these findings suggest TAM measures calculated from 15-minute language samples contribute unique diagnostic information, supplementing information from standardized language assessments, especially the CELF-P3.
Funding: R01DC018593; R01DC014708; T32DC000030
PS3S39 – WITHDRAWN
A Comparative Study of Narrative Intervention between One-on-one and Group Interventions for Developmental Language Disorders in Mandarin-speaking Children Aged 5-7
Qi Liu; School of Chinese Language and Literature of Hebei University
Wenjie Wu; School of Chinese Language and Literature of Hebei University
Rumi Wang; Rehabilitation Medicine Department, Speech and Language Pathology Therapy Section, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate narrative interventions for children with developmental language disorders (DLD) and compare the effectiveness of one-on-one (OI) versus group (GI) interventions.
Method: Twenty-eight DLD children (mean age 6;4 [years;months]) were divided into OI (n=9), GI (n=9), and control groups (n=10). We conducted a 4-week narrative intervention. We compared macrostructure (Story Structure, Structural Complexity), general microstructure (productivity, lexical/syntactic complexity), and fine-grained microstructure (Ba/Bei, Negation, Classifiers, Aspect markers).
Results: Both interventions significantly enhanced post-test performance, although the improvements were less pronounced at the 3-month follow-up. GI were more effective in enhancing general microstructure, whereas OI demonstrated greater efficacy in improving fine-grained microstructure and macrostructure.
Conclusion: Both one-on-one intervention and group intervention are effective for Mandarin-speaking DLD children, and one-on-one intervention are more comprehensive in enhancing the narrative abilities of children with developmental language disorders.
This research was supported by the following grants: China Population Welfare Foundation (League of Legends – Resilient Community Building Project), Post-graduate’s Innovation Fund Project of Hebei Province (CXZZBS2025005), Student Innovation Fund Project of School of Chinese Language and Literature of Hebei University (24WXYD007).
PS3S40
Mechanisms for Verb Learning: Exploring Syntactic Bootstrapping in Late Talkers and Typically Developing Children
Sabrina Horvath; Medical University of South Carolina
Typically developing toddlers (TDs) use the linguistic context in which a verb appears as a cue for meaning. For example, they associate the subject of a transitive sentence with the agent of a causative action (Fisher et al., 1994). It is unknown whether late talkers (LTs) use this same cue. 25 toddlers (10 LTs and 15 TDs; 11 female, 14 male; M(age) = 27.8, SD(age) = 2.0, range(age) = 25.0 – 30.0 mo.) participated in a novel verb-learning task. Participants viewed two scenes featuring causative actions; both scenes featured the same actors but differed in which was the agent. After previewing both, participants were prompted to “find” one. Analysis explored whether participants preferred the target scene (i.e., the scene in which the sentence’s subject was the agent) above baseline looking rates. A mixed-effects logistic regression revealed a significant interaction between group (LT, TD) and subphase (Baseline, Test). Whereas TDs look more to the target at Test than Baseline, LTs do not, suggesting LTs do not use the subject-agent link as a cue for verb meaning.
Funding: ASHFoundation New Century Scholars Grant.
PS3S41
Impact of Feedback Timing in Probabilistic Learning Accuracy in Children with DLD
Shivani Patel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Annika Schafer; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Lauren Baron; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Kelsey Black; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Ziyi Cao; MGH Institute of Health Professions
Yael Arbel; MGH Institute of Health Professions
This study examines whether feedback timing impacts probabilistic learning in children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Previous findings indicated inefficient feedback-based learning in children with DLD. Given that feedback processing is critical for learning and intervention, it is important to determine whether it can be improved in children with DLD. This study aims to determine if the timing (immediate or delayed) of feedback impacts learning in children with DLD.
School-aged children with DLD completed a computerized learning task in which participants must incrementally learn how to sort a set of novel cartoon creatures into one of two categories through trial-by-trial feedback. Analyses examine overall accuracy during training and testing trials, as well as the response to feedback under the two feedback timing conditions. This study will provide insight into how children with DLD process feedback and the best ways to provide feedback in clinical contexts.
This work is funded by NIDCD R01DC020735-01 (PI: Yael Arbel).
PS3S42
Associations among lexical processing speed and language in 3-year-olds with small receptive vocabularies
Ebony Goldman; Graduate Center, City University of New York
Lily Carroll; New York University
Sudha Arunachalam; New York University
Lexical processing speed has been shown to predict concurrent and later outcomes in typically developing as well as late talking toddlers (e.g., Fernald & Marchman, 2012). In the current study, we asked whether the same is true for slightly older children with small receptive vocabularies, who may be at risk for poorer language outcomes. From an existing longitudinal data set, we identified 56 36-month-olds whose receptive vocabularies on the Toolbox Picture Vocabulary Test (Gershon et al., 2013) were in the 20th percentile or below. We coded their eye gaze in a variant of a looking-while-listening task (Fernald, Roberts, & Swingley, 2001) and evaluated associations among children’s latency to look at the named target words and their concurrent and later (at 60 months) receptive vocabularies and school readiness on the Bracken School Readiness Assessment (Bracken, 2002). We found that although latency in the looking-while-listening task did predict concurrent vocabulary in this group of children with small receptive vocabularies, it did not predict their 60-month receptive vocabularies or school readiness.
Funding: NIH R01 HD101399
View previous years’ poster and speaker information in the SRCLD Archive.
Supported in part by: NIDCD and NICHD, NIH, R13 DC001677, Margarita Kaushanskaya and Audra Sterling, Principal Investigators
University of Wisconsin-Madison – Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders