TOPIC

Paediatric language research

Everything we have read on paediatric language. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

479 PAPERS · PAGE 1 OF 10 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2022Beneficial Effects of Maternal Physical Activity during Pregnancy on Fetal, Newborn, and Child Health: Guidelines for Interventions during the Perinatal Period from the French National College of Midwives.Journal of midwifery & women's healthRegular moderate physical activity during pregnancy improves fetal heart rate variability and child neurodevelopment, including language and motor skills. Strict bed rest does not prevent preterm birth and increases maternal stress, mood disorders, and guilt without clinical benefit.
• SLPRNQualitative2026Investigating parental perspectives of the enablers and barriers to communication with their preterm infants: A narrative study.Journal of child health care : for professionals working with children in the hospital and communityMothers said neonatal staff gave inconsistent communication support. Nurses focused on touch and skin-to-skin, while specific talking, reading cues and home follow-up varied.
• SLPNarrative Review2026Avoiding unintended consequences: science of reading policies may harm deaf children.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationNo new study data are reported. The paper reviews prior evidence and warns that one-size-fits-all phonics policies can harm deaf children.
• SLPOther2026Combining Nonword and Sentence Repetition to Identify Developmental Language Disorder.International journal of language & communication disordersCombining Vietnamese nonword and sentence repetition items caught 85.7% of children with DLD and correctly cleared 81.6% of typical children, better than either task alone. Cross-validation was unstable, so this is not ready as a standalone clinical test.
• SLPRCT2026Characterizing Caregiver-Child Interactions Through a Transactional Lens: A Baseline Analysis of a Caregiver-Implemented Intervention.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRIn baseline play, caregivers of toddlers at risk for DLD used more vocabulary strategies when children communicated more, and more sentence strategies when children used more different words. Each responsive strategy made child next-turn word overlap about three to four times more likely.
• SLPPilot2026Adapting computerised language sample analysis for Jamaican Creole-Jamaican English-speaking preschoolers: A pilot study.Clinical linguistics & phoneticsAdapting computerised language sample coding for Jamaican Creole-English preschoolers did not separate children with language disorder from typical peers, even though it raised grammaticality scores. Typical children still had longer utterances and more different words.
• SLPOther2026Evidence-Based Interventions for Young Dual Language Learners With or at Risk of Language Impairment: A Scoping Review.International journal of language & communication disordersFor young dual language learners with or at risk of language impairment, bilingual or home-language-supported intervention was more likely than English-only treatment to help the home language. Evidence was mostly Spanish-English, with no eligible studies for common Australian home language pairings.
• PTOTSLPCohort2016Early gross motor skills predict the subsequent development of language in children with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn children with autism, later walking onset predicted slower language growth, but this link vanished once general motor ability and nonverbal IQ were accounted for. Overall gross motor skills remained a significant predictor of language development.
• SLPCohort2017Impaired downregulation of visual cortex during auditory processing is associated with autism symptomatology in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with autism showed increased visual cortex activity during auditory tasks, whereas typical children showed decreased activity. This visual over-activation correlated with greater communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. The study involved only high-functioning participants who could tolerate MRI scanning.
• SLPCohort2017The stability and validity of automated vocal analysis in preverbal preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutomated day-long LENA recordings can produce vocal-development scores that predict later spoken words in preverbal preschoolers with ASD. A combined IVD plus ACPU-C+V score was not worse than lab samples but was research-only; the commercial AVA DA score did not predict later words.
• OTSLPRCT2016A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Low-Dose Sertraline in Young Children With Fragile X Syndrome.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPLow-dose sertraline did not improve expressive language or clinician-rated global improvement more than placebo in young children with fragile X. Some secondary gains appeared in fine motor, visual reception, and combined developmental scores.
• SLPRCT2016Low-income fathers' speech to toddlers during book reading versus toy play.Journal of child languageLow-income fathers used more labels and wh-questions during book reading, and more directives and explanations during toy play. Their book-reading questions were linked to toddlers' vocabulary, but not all links held up.
• SLPOther2016Lexical Processing in Toddlers with ASD: Does Weak Central Coherence Play a Role?Journal of autism and developmental disordersToddlers with ASD did not show the predicted detail-focused processing pattern on a word recognition task. They looked less reliably at named pictures than matched peers, but that difference disappeared once receptive vocabulary was considered.
• SLPOther2017The encoding of word forms into memory may be challenging for college students with developmental language impairment.International journal of speech-language pathologyCollege students with developmental language impairment encoded fewer new word forms than peers. The gap did not widen over a week. They also showed word competition, though possibly weaker for the impairment group.
• SLPOther2017Dog or chien? Translation equivalents in the receptive and expressive vocabularies of young French-English bilinguals.Journal of child languageFrench-English bilingual toddlers' cross-language word pairs grew from 48.53% to 61.15% of known words by 2;6, and balanced word growth predicted more. Parents over-reported comprehension by 16%, so direct assessment matters.
• SLPOther2017Investigating the Receptive-Expressive Vocabulary Profile in Children with Idiopathic ASD and Comorbid ASD and Fragile X Syndrome.Journal of autism and developmental disordersA meaningful relative weakness in understanding words was not more common in boys with idiopathic ASD than boys with fragile X and ASD, but boys with idiopathic ASD had larger average gaps between understanding and spoken words. Assess both.
• SLPOther2017Phonological encoding in speech-sound disorder: evidence from a cross-modal priming experiment.International journal of language & communication disordersChildren with speech sound disorder did not show the predicted naming speed benefit from words that share the picture ending. They were faster than typical peers relative to the neutral tone, but this did not support the idea that their sound planning was less mature.
• SLPOther2016Cerebellar gray matter differentiates children with early language delay in autism.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn children with autism, early language delay was associated with reduced left cerebellar gray matter; both autism groups showed reduced right cerebellar gray matter compared with typically developing children.
• SLPOther2016Core vocabulary in written personal narratives of school-age children.Augmentative and alternative communication (Baltimore, Md. : 1985)In written narratives by 211 children, a 191-word core made up 70% of the total written sample. Fourth-grade samples had a larger proportion of function words and abstract nouns than first-grade samples.
• SLPOther2016Learning by listening to lectures is a challenge for college students with developmental language impairment.Journal of communication disordersCollege students with developmental language impairment learned less from a 30-minute lecture than peers, even after accounting for prior knowledge. For speech-language pathologists in transition planning, target listening without note-taking, not only reading or writing supports.
• SLPSurvey2016Addressing phonological memory in language therapy with clients who have Down syndrome: Perspectives of speech-language pathologists.International journal of language & communication disordersSpeech-language pathologists who worked with clients with Down syndrome were least likely to address memory for speech sounds, compared with clients with specific language impairment or autism. Almost half addressed it occasionally or regularly.
• SLPOther2017Emotion Understanding in Preschool Children with Mild-to-Severe Hearing Loss.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationPreschool children with mild-to-severe hearing loss and hearing aids scored similarly to typically hearing children on emotion understanding, despite lower vocabulary scores. Parents of children with hearing aids estimated their child's level more accurately, although both groups overestimated it.
• SLPOther2017A Path Model of Expressive Vocabulary Skills in Initially Preverbal Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersIn preverbal preschool children with ASD, intentional communication, diversity of key consonants, and parent responses to the child's focus predicted later expressive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary did not explain these links.
• SLPOther2017Individual differences in language and working memory affect children's speech recognition in noise.International journal of audiologyIn children with normal hearing, higher working memory was associated with better speech recognition in noise across all stimuli. Higher vocabulary was associated with better recognition only for sentences and word sequences, not isolated words, so interpret poor scores cautiously.
• SLPCohort2017Some Neurocognitive Correlates of Noise-Vocoded Speech Perception in Children With Normal Hearing: A Replication and Extension of ).Ear and hearingChildren with normal hearing who have better auditory attention and verbal short-term memory recognize spectrally degraded speech more accurately. This suggests that cognitive skills, not just hearing, drive speech perception when the signal is poor.
• SLPCohort2017Neural correlates of language variability in preschool-aged boys with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchPreschool boys with autism and more developed language had different white matter wiring in major brain pathways, and the strongest links were to language scores rather than autism severity.
• SLPOther2017Signaling of noncomprehension in communication breakdowns in fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, and autism spectrum disorder.Journal of communication disordersBoys and girls with fragile X syndrome plus autism and those with Down syndrome signaled confusion less often than typical peers in a structured task. Boys with fragile X alone or autism alone performed like typical peers. Autism severity predicted fewer signals in boys with fragile X.
• SLPRCT2016Culturally sensitive adaptation of the concept of relational communication therapy as a support to language development: An exploratory study in collaboration with a Tanzanian orphanage.The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir KommunikasieafwykingsTwelve Tanzanian orphanage caregiver students scored higher on a competency test after a four-module communication training. The study did not test children's language outcomes, so it cannot show that caregiver training helps children.
• SLPSurvey2017Perceptions of public primary school teachers regarding noise-induced hearing loss in South Africa.The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir Kommunikasieafwykings98% of Pretoria public primary teachers agreed loud noise can damage hearing, but 87% had no noise-induced hearing loss training and only 13% of schools had hearing screening programmes.
• SLPCohort2017A Discrepancy in Comprehension and Production in Early Language Development in ASD: Is it Clinically Relevant?Journal of autism and developmental disordersAt about 30 months, toddlers with autism often understood less than they said relative to age expectations, while late talkers showed the reverse. This faded by 66 months, so check receptive and expressive language separately.
• SLPOther2016The Communication Play Protocol: Capturing Variations in Language Development.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groupsNo clinical outcome is reported. The paper describes a research observation method for parent-child communication, not a tested intervention.
• SLPOther2017The Influence of Maternal Pragmatics on the Language Skills of Children with Autism.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPMothers of children with autism had more conversation style problems in a parent interview than mothers of children with other language delays. In both groups, more problems went with lower child language scores, but in different language areas.
• SLPCohort2017A Multi-Method Investigation of Pragmatic Development in Individuals With Down Syndrome.American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilitiesChildren with Down syndrome had pragmatic language weaknesses on parent report and a standardized task. Boys did not differ from younger controls in total observed conversation violations, but girls with Down syndrome did.
• SLPOther2017Lexical-Access Ability and Cognitive Predictors of Speech Recognition in Noise in Adult Cochlear Implant Users.Trends in hearingVerbal working memory and duration of hearing loss were associated with sentence recognition in noise for cochlear implant users. Lexical-access measures were weaker, and word or digit recognition did not track cognitive or linguistic scores.
• SLPOther2017Spoken word recognition in children with autism spectrum disorder: The role of visual disengagement.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceChildren with autism who more often failed to look away from a central video were slower and less accurate at recognizing spoken words. This link remained after vocabulary and age in 18 children, but no treatment was tested.
• SLPRCT2017Effect of Omega-3 and -6 Supplementation on Language in Preterm Toddlers Exhibiting Autism Spectrum Disorder Symptoms.Journal of autism and developmental disordersA 3-month omega-3, -6, and -9 supplement increased gesture use and combined gesture and word scores in preterm toddlers screened for ASD risk, but not word use alone; this pilot secondary analysis of language cannot establish efficacy.
• SLPQualitative2018Parental involvement in the care and intervention of children with hearing loss.International journal of audiologyParents of children with hearing loss described taking the central role through work behind the scenes, case management, language support, advocacy, and everyday parenting. These themes show what parents do, not that their involvement improves child outcomes.
• SLPOther2017Narrative Language and Reading Comprehension in Students With Mild Intellectual Disabilities.American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilitiesWithin their narratives, students with mild intellectual disabilities showed stronger story introductions, character details and conflict/resolution than mental-state language, referencing and cohesion. Story-level narrative ability was linked to reading comprehension beyond decoding and sentence-level language.
• SLPOther2017Effects of Simulated Hearing Loss on Bilingual Children's Consonant Recognition in Noise.Ear and hearingNo clear difference between English-dominant Spanish-English bilingual children and monolingual peers in English consonant recognition in quiet and noise. Simulated mild-to-moderate hearing loss lowered recognition similarly for both groups, and age affected bilingual children more.
• SLPOther2017Reading comprehension of ambiguous sentences by school-age children with autism spectrum disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchSchool-age children with autism spectrum disorder understood ambiguous sentences less accurately than peers, but both groups used context to access meanings. Difficulty appeared when selecting meanings afterward. Word recognition, word meaning knowledge, and age were associated with performance.
• SLPCohort2017Modelling gesture use and early language development in autism spectrum disorder.International journal of language & communication disordersIn 197 children, gestures and fine motor scores formed one gesture measure strongly linked to current language. In 36 children with autism followed up, early gestures were linked to later caregiver-reported receptive language, but not to later observed receptive language or expressive language.
• SLPCohort2018Early Gesture and Vocabulary Development in Infant Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersInfants with an older sibling with autism who were later diagnosed themselves looked similar to low-risk infants at 8 months, but their gesture and word growth slowed and fell behind by 9 to 11 months. A single early check can miss this.
• SLPCohort2018Semantic fluency in deaf children who use spoken and signed language in comparison with hearing peers.International journal of language & communication disordersDeaf children named fewer animals on average than hearing peers, but BSL, spoken English, and sign-supported English users performed alike. Animal naming tracks vocabulary and executive skills, not language mode.
• SLPOther2018An analysis of topics and vocabulary in Chinese oral narratives by normal speakers and speakers with fluent aphasia.Clinical linguistics & phoneticsCantonese speakers with fluent aphasia and matched controls used many of the same important-event topics. The aphasia group produced fewer different words, but their word classes and concrete/abstract balance looked similar. The finding points to broader vocabulary targets beyond nouns and verbs.
• SLPOther2018Visual speech fills in both discrimination and identification of non-intact auditory speech in children.Journal of child languageSeeing the talker's mouth helped children fill in missing beginning sounds for easy-to-see /b/ items across ages four to fourteen, but not much for hard-to-see /g/ items.
• SLPSurvey2017Why is it so hard to reach agreement on terminology? The case of developmental language disorder (DLD).International journal of language & communication disordersSpeech-language therapists may use developmental language disorder as a broad label for children with persistent language problems, not a sharp diagnosis. It should not depend on a gap between language and non-verbal ability, and functional impact must be shown.
• SLPOther2018Contralateral Interference Caused by Binaurally Presented Competing Speech in Adult Bilateral Cochlear-Implant Users.Ear and hearingIn nine adults with bilateral cochlear implants who had early deafness or asymmetric hearing histories, adding a competing talker to the other ear made speech understanding worse, not better. Test both ears together in noise before assuming benefit.
• SLPOther2017Early social communication in infants with fragile X syndrome and infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder.Research in developmental disabilitiesInfants with fragile X syndrome used less complex social communication than siblings of children with autism. Their communication was also lower than typically developing infants, but the difference was not clear. They communicated more during peek-a-boo than during other play tasks.
• SLPCohort2018Pediatric Auditory Brainstem Implantation: Surgical, Electrophysiologic, and Behavioral Outcomes.Ear and hearingFive children with an auditory brainstem implant detected sound from 125 Hz to 6 K Hz at 20 to 50 dB HL, but none showed open-set speech perception. S1 and S2 had surgical complications. All children needed visual language support.
• SLPOther2018Do Parents Model Gestures Differently When Children's Gestures Differ?Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with autism or Down syndrome gestured less than typically developing children, but parents gestured similarly across groups. The same gesture types appeared in all groups, so lower gesture use did not match less parental gesture input.