Session One: Thursday, June 4 from 3:30 – 5:00 PM
SOP1-1
Does Explicit Instruction Offer an Advantage to Traditional Implicit Approaches When Targeting Morphosyntactic Forms?
Lizbeth Finestack; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Thomas Murray; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
Despite weaknesses in the production of morphosyntactic forms being a core weakness for many children with developmental language disorder, current traditional and commonly used implicit-based interventions do not efficiently and effectively ameliorate these morphosyntactic weaknesses. An alternative approach for interventionists to use when targeting morphosyntactic forms is the inclusion of explicit instruction. Thus, through a randomized control trial, we evaluated the inclusion of explicit instruction in intervention. Participants included 111, 5- to 9-year-olds with DLD who were randomized to receive either an implicit-only or explicit-added intervention. Participants completed 32 sessions that targeted four different morphosyntactic forms. Performance on an expressive morphosyntactic probe served as the primary outcome measure analyzed using a generalized estimation equation (GEE) approach. Study results will allow us to better understand how best to support the morphosyntactic development of young children with DLD.
Funding: NIDCDR01DC019895
SOP1-2
Longitudinal changes in nonword repetition accuracy for children with and without Developmental Language Disorder
Ron Pomper; Michigan State University
Timothy Arbisi-Kelm; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Nichole Eden; Boys Town National Research Hospital
Karla McGregor; Boys Town National Research Hospital
This longitudinal study investigated changes in phonological short-term memory using a nonword repetition (NWR) task. The developmental trajectory and diagnostic stability of NWR tasks for children with DLD during late childhood remains uncertain. Data were collected annually between 7 and 10 years of age for 33 children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and 45 with Typical Language Development (TLD). Growth curve analyses revealed that while both groups showed significant linear improvement, this growth was larger for the DLD group. Growth plateaued for both groups, however, between ages 9 and 10. Therefore, the NWR performance gap (TLD > DLD) narrowed, but ultimately persisted between the ages of 7 and 10. Individual differences were stable, but decreased over time within the DLD group (year-to-year correlations declined from .82 to .64). Diagnostic accuracy improved with age, as sensitivity increased from .64 to .79 while specificity remained high (>.80). These findings suggest that NWR remains a highly relevant diagnostic tool into late childhood, despite developmental plateaus and a narrowing gap between groups.
Funding: National Institutes of Health Grant R01 DC011742-07
SOP1-3
Adapting Verb Network Strengthening Treatment to Support Transitive Verb Knowledge in Children with Developmental Language Disorder
Elizabeth Kosmicki; University of Delaware
Nazmiye Atila Caglar; University of Delaware
Amanda Owen Van Horne; University of Delaware
Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have difficulty with knowledge of verb depth and breadth as well as syntactic processing. Evidence suggests that semantic knowledge is related to syntactic skills (Kueser et al., 2024). Here, we trial an adaptation of VNeST, a well-established protocol for strengthening semantic associations and enhancing sentence production in adults with aphasia (Edmonds et al., 2009) with the goal of improving the use of simple transitive verbs and sentence frames in children with DLD. Preliminary data provides evidence that the treatment is feasible and well-tolerated. We report efficacy data on semantic and syntactic outcomes derived from repeated semantic associations and eye-gaze in an active/passive 2AFC looking-while-listening task. We propose several possible modifications to improve outcomes.
Funding: University of Delaware Internal Funds
Session Two: Friday, June 5 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM
SOP2-1
Using Conceptual and Single-Language Vocabulary to Capture Home Language Environment Effects in At-Risk Bilingual Preschoolers
Sarah Surrain; University of Nevada Las Vegas
Alfa Montiel; University of Nevada Las Vegas
Kelly Vaughn; University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Omolola Odejimi; University of Nevada Las Vegas
This study examines the home language environment’s role in explaining vocabulary differences among 137 Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers (44–65 months) at risk for language disorder. While automated measures from the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) system (Adult Word Count [AWC], Conversational Turn Count [CTC], Child Vocalization Count [CVC]) have been validated in infants and toddlers, their relationship with conceptual vocabulary in at-risk bilingual preschoolers remains under-studied. Families provided LENA recordings from a single non-school day; vocabulary was measured using the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test Spanish-Bilingual Edition. Results showed all LENA measures correlated significantly with conceptual and Spanish vocabulary. In regression models with demographic covariates, AWC was the strongest predictor of conceptual vocabulary. Notably, findings were language-specific: CVC uniquely predicted Spanish vocabulary, while LENA measures did not explain English vocabulary variance. These findings suggest that conceptual vocabulary more accurately captures the contribution of adult input for at-risk bilinguals. Furthermore, child output may be especially important for home language maintenance during the transition to preschool.
This research was supported by the NIDCD of the NIH (award number R00DC021040) and IES (award number R305A200251).
SOP2-2
Extending DLD identification to Vietnamese-English bilinguals
Giang Pham; San Diego State University
Ngoc Do; San Diego State University, University of California San Diego
Quynh Dam; Boston Public Schools
Phuong Palafox; Phuong Lien Palafox, LLC
Linh Dang; San Diego State University, University of California San Diego
Michelle Ramos; San Diego State University
Kerry Ebert; University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
For bilingual children in the United States, English develops rapidly while outcomes in the first language (L1) are more variable. Bilingual children often experience L1 attrition due to reduced opportunities for use and lack of environmental and social support; and bilingual children with communication disorders like developmental language disorder (DLD) are even more susceptible to L1 attrition. To our knowledge, DLD has not been examined in Vietnamese-English bilinguals, even though Vietnamese is among the top five languages spoken in U.S. homes. In this study, we employ a multidimensional approach to identifying DLD and characterize the disorder in each language. Of 152 participants, ages 4 to 8, we identified eleven (7% of the sample) as having DLD. Children with DLD showed minimal Vietnamese skills and more indication of first-language attrition compared to typically developing peers. Performance was relatively better in English, though still limited compared to peers. Findings contribute to understanding how DLD manifests across languages/language pairs. Project outcomes will address the practical need of improving DLD identification accuracy for growing U.S. populations.
Funding is from NIH R01DC019335.
SOP2-3
The Relationship Between Symbolic Play, Nonverbal Communication, and Productive Vocabulary in Bilingual Learners
Krystal Alvarez-Hernandez; Northwestern University
Carolyn Cates; Purchase College, State University of New York
Matthew Pellerite; The University of Chicago & Endeavor Health
Adriana Weisleder; Northwestern University
Decades of research suggest that symbolic play, language, and communicative skills are tightly coupled throughout the second year of life, yet most of these studies have focused on monolingual learners. Investigating these relationships in bilinguals can shed light on the mechanisms underlying symbolic and communication development. To address this gap, we examined links between observed measures of symbolic play and parent-reported gesture use and productive vocabulary in a heterogeneous sample of bilingual learners aged 15-18 months. Analyses revealed that the odds of engaging in higher levels of symbolic play were higher amongst children whose parents reported more gesture production. However, there was no significant relationship between symbolic play and productive vocabulary, possibly reflecting measurement issues in the measurement of vocabulary size in bilingual learners. These results suggest that symbolic play behaviors may provide valuable insight into the representational and symbolic development of bilingual learners during a period when children from both bilingual and monolingual households show considerable variability in their spoken language.
Funded by NIH grant R01HD109291
Session Three: Saturday, June 6 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM
SOP3-1
“I know there’s a lot of controversy over the evidence”: SLPs’ impressions of research related to gestalt language processing (GLP)
Grace Corrigan; Michigan State University
Emily Jensen; Michigan State University
Jennifer Johnson; Michigan State University
Courtney Venker; Michigan State University
A proposed model of language acquisition known as gestalt language processing (GLP) has been the topic of much debate within the field of speech-language pathology. Though celebrated as a neurodiversity-affirming approach to characterizing the language profiles of autistic children who produce echolalia, GLP has also faced criticism due to the absence of empirical research supporting it. We interviewed SLPs who work with autistic children and asked whether and how they consider research when forming an impression of GLP. Responses were qualitatively examined using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: 1) SLPs expressed varying levels of concern about research evidence for GLP; 2) many SLPs wanted more research into GLP, regardless of their current attitudes towards the approach; 3) several SLPs’ support for GLP had waned due to emerging research. Findings revealed significant variation in SLPs’ support for GLP, their level of concern regarding the lack of empirical research evidence, and their interest in more research on GLP. Future directions include analyzing more SLPs’ interview responses and examining barriers to research accessibility for SLPs.
Funding provided by NIDCD R01DC020165.
SOP3-2
Learning and Generalization of Novel Adjectives in Autistic Children
Eileen Haebig; Louisiana State University
Laurence Leonard; Purdue University
Retrieval-based practice has been found to enhance learning. Although studies have examined retrieval practice in a few pediatric special populations and found its utility in promoting learning, no previously published study has examined this in autistic children. We examined two learning conditions, repeated study (RS) and repeated spaced retrieval (RSR), to examine word learning abilities in young autistic children. Thirteen autistic children participated in the current study (mean age 6.40 years). Language abilities varied, but all children produced at least simple sentences. Four novel adjectives were taught using repeated study and four through repeated spaced retrieval. The children demonstrated learning in both conditions; however, across the 5-minute post learning test and the 1-week test, more words were recalled if they had been learned in the RSR condition. Furthermore, the children accurately recalled the novel adjectives when tested with taught items as well as novel depictions (generalization items). This initial investigation indicates that the previously documented retrieval-based learning enhancement effect extends to autistic children. The current findings also shed light on generalization abilities in autistic children.
Funding sources: 1R21DC018872-01A1
SOP3-3
Motor Accessibility Shapes Receptive Vocabulary in Cerebral Palsy: Evidence from Object Interactivity and Action Embodiment
Yiran Chen; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Alexandrea White; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Katie Hustad; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Jenny Saffran; University of Wisconsin – Madison
Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common motor disorder of childhood, and many children show below-age receptive vocabulary on standard assessments. This pattern could reflect limited access to motor-mediated learning experiences, cognitive comorbidity, or reduced caregiver observability. We tested an input accessibility account while controlling observability differences by focusing on anarthric children with CP (=5 spoken words at age 4; n = 53; 17–107 months) assessed longitudinally. Caregivers completed the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MCDI) Words and Gestures across 1–11 visits. Motor severity (GMFCS 1–5) predicted receptive vocabulary size beyond age, caregiver education, vision impairment, and autism diagnosis. To probe mechanisms, we modeled word-level comprehension as a function of motor relevance: verb activeness (hand/arm + foot/leg involvement from Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms) and noun Body-Object Interaction (BOI). Children with severe motor impairment (GMFCS 4–5) showed a stronger disadvantage for highly active verbs and reduced benefit from high-BOI nouns. Results support an accessibility pathway and motivate refining vocabulary measures to reduce item bias and validate caregiver report with direct comprehension tasks.
This work is supported by R21 DC020613 to KH and JS, and U54 HD090256 to the Waisman Center.
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