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 3 OF 10 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPRCT2019Improving storytelling and vocabulary in secondary school students with language disorder: a randomized controlled trial.International journal of language & communication disordersStandardized vocabulary scores did not improve more than waiting controls. Narrative skills did improve, and vocabulary gains appeared only on tests tied to the taught material.
• SLPOther2019Attention in Bilingual Children With Developmental Language Disorder.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRSpanish-English bilingual children did not outperform monolingual peers on nonlinguistic visual attention tasks. Children with DLD had poorer sustained attention and poorer attentional control, whether they spoke one or two languages.
• SLPSystematic Review2019Consequential differences in perspectives and practices concerning children with developmental language disorders: an integrative review.International journal of language & communication disordersPublished speech and language therapy literature treats developmental language disorder as a child language deficit. Education literature treats it as a learning need shaped by classroom context. These differences affect how professionals define goals and assess children in school collaboration.
• SLPRCT2019The Legacy for Children™ Randomized Control Trial: Effects on Cognition Through Third Grade for Young Children Experiencing Poverty.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPA parenting intervention improved cognitive scores for children in Los Angeles but not Miami. The LA site showed higher IQ and reading math scores through third grade. Differences between sites mean the specific curriculum or local context drove the effect, not the program alone.
• SLPOther2019Effects of Early Auditory Deprivation on Working Memory and Reasoning Abilities in Verbal and Visuospatial Domains for Pediatric Cochlear Implant Recipients.Ear and hearingChildren with cochlear implants had weaker memory for spoken information and lower vocabulary than hearing peers, but similar spatial memory. The difficulty is verbal, not general.
• SLPCohort2019Student-teacher relationships of children with autism spectrum disorder: Distinct contributions of language domains.Research in developmental disabilitiesFor children with autism, pragmatic language skills predicted how close teachers felt to them at the start of the school year, but semantic and syntactic skills did not. Teacher experience and classroom placement also influenced closeness. No language domain predicted changes in relationship quality over the year.
• SLPCase Series2019The emergence of clause construction in children who use speech generating devices.Augmentative and alternative communication (Baltimore, Md. : 1985)Four children using speech generating devices produced longer, more complex clauses over 10 months. They first used simple subject-verb-object clauses, then added pronouns, inflections, articles and prepositions. More adult-supported turns were associated with more grammatical clauses.
• SLPQualitative2019Responsive communication coaching for early childhood practitioners in underserved South African contexts: Clinical perspectives.The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir KommunikasieafwykingsEarly childhood practitioners in South Africa reported that coaching by student speech-language therapists helped them use responsive strategies, such as observing, waiting and listening, and increased interaction with children. No child outcomes were measured.
• SLPCase Report2019Treatment Targets for Co-Occurring Speech-Language Impairment: A Case Study.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groupsA single kindergarten child with co-occurring speech and language deficits improved untreated sounds after 14 weeks targeting a complex final cluster. Grammar did not improve on tests, so this shows feasibility, not proof it works for other children.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2019The relation between parent verbal responsiveness and child communication in young children with or at risk for autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchParents who talk about what their toddler is already looking at are linked to better communication skills. However, teaching parents to do this did not improve the children's language in trials. Direct speech therapy is still needed to help the child.
• SLPNarrative Review2019A Review of Language, Executive Function, and Intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Seminars in speech and languageExecutive function deficits in autism are inconsistent and often depend on whether the task requires language. Social communication interventions improved executive function, while executive function interventions improved social skills. Clinicians should assess language and executive function together.
• SLPCohort2019Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder May Learn from Caregiver Verb Input Better in Certain Engagement States.Journal of autism and developmental disordersCaregiver verb talk that followed the child's focus during sustained, reciprocal object play was associated with more later expressive verb vocabulary in 29 young children with ASD. The finding did not show that the talk caused the gain.
• SLPCohort2019Reduced frontal gamma power at 24 months is associated with better expressive language in toddlers at risk for autism.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchHigh-risk toddlers without later ASD had lower frontal gamma power at 24 months, and lower power was linked to better expressive language. Toddlers with ASD did not differ from low-risk controls, so this single EEG measure was not a clear ASD marker.
• SLPCase Series2019Impaired Lexical Selection and Fluency in Post-Stroke Aphasia.AphasiologyIn people with post-stroke aphasia, less fluent speech was linked to greater difficulty recognising words that sound similar to many other words. This suggests that trouble selecting the right word during listening may share mechanisms with trouble speaking fluently.
• SLPOther2020Language Performance in Preschool-Aged Boys with Nonsyndromic Autism Spectrum Disorder or Fragile X Syndrome.Journal of autism and developmental disordersBoys with fragile X syndrome showed stronger language than boys with nonsyndromic autism on some measures after age, nonverbal IQ and autism severity were accounted for. Boys with autism more often had language below their nonverbal ability.
• SLPOther2020Speaking the Same Language? A Preliminary Investigation, Comparing the Language and Communication Skills of Females and Males with High-Functioning Autism.Journal of autism and developmental disordersGirls with high-functioning autism performed better than boys on some complex language tasks, but below typically developing girls on figurative language and inference. Simple vocabulary and sentence tasks did not separate the groups.
• SLPCohort2019Early language exposure supports later language skills in infants with and without autism.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAcross infants, including those later diagnosed with autism, hearing more adult words and having more back-and-forth talk at 9 and 15 months was associated with better language skills at 24 months.
• SLPCohort2020Longitudinal Development of Receptive Vocabulary in Children with Cerebral Palsy and Anarthria: Use of the MacArthur-Bates CDI.Developmental neurorehabilitationParent-reported receptive vocabulary grew slowly in non-speaking children with cerebral palsy, but growth varied widely. Some children gained as much as 150 words per year, while others showed little or no increase. Vocabulary at four years was strongly linked to later growth.
• SLPCohort2019Conversational Language Is a Predictor of Vocational Independence and Friendships in Adults with ASD.Journal of autism and developmental disordersMore different words in adult conversations predicted vocational independence and friendships five years later, after accounting for IQ and childhood language. Topic maintenance, measured by elaborate replies, predicted friendships but not vocational independence.
• SLPCohort2020Emotional functioning and the development of internalizing and externalizing problems in young boys with and without autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceYoung boys with autism did not differ from typical boys in internalizing symptoms in the main model, but they had more severe externalizing problems and lower emotional functioning across three years.
• OTSLPCohort2019Toilet Training in Fragile X Syndrome.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPToilet training in Fragile X syndrome is significantly delayed, with females training much earlier than males. Language level and autism diagnosis are the strongest predictors of delay. Males with autism and poor language skills may not achieve independent toileting until their mid-teens.
• SLPCase-Control2020Lexical stress in childhood apraxia of speech: acoustic and kinematic findings.International journal of speech-language pathologyChildren with childhood apraxia of speech showed less jaw movement timing contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables than typically developing peers, even when their speech sounded accurate. Acoustic differences were not found.
• SLPOther2019Bone Conduction Amplification in Children: Stimulation via a Percutaneous Abutment versus a Transcutaneous Softband.Ear and hearingChildren with hearing loss learned new words twice as fast with an implanted bone conduction abutment than with a softband. They also identified unfamiliar words better. These benefits were largest in younger children and those with poorer softband performance.
• SLPOther2019Interactions Between Item Set and Vocoding in Serial Recall.Ear and hearingVocoding degraded speech significantly reduced serial recall for words and non-words but had little impact on digit span. This suggests digit span measures core memory capacity, while word span reflects the combined load of memory and auditory processing difficulty.
• SLPPilot2020Screening school-age children for developmental language disorder in primary care.International journal of speech-language pathologyA short parent questionnaire plus a brief sentence repetition task was feasible and had preliminary accuracy in school-age children, but only 25 children had diagnostic testing, so it is not ready for routine use.
• SLPNarrative Review2020Towards understanding the bilingual profile in typical and atypical language development: A tutorial.International journal of speech-language pathologyNo new finding: this tutorial reviews bilingual language research and suggests cognate-aware assessment and therapy as possible directions, not proven practice.
• SLPOther2020The quality of child-directed speech depends on the speaker's language proficiency.Journal of child languageIn English toy play, mothers with limited self-rated proficiency used fewer different words, shorter utterances, and less varied verbs than native or proficient non-native speakers. The study did not measure child language outcomes.
• SLPOther2019Visual and verbal semantic productions in children with ASD, DLD, and typical language.Journal of communication disordersWhen children with autism or developmental language disorder defined new words, they used more meaning details first shown visually than children with typical language did. Details shown in pictures and words together increased by session 2 and held steady. Data came from 36 children.
• SLPCohort2019Using Polygenic Profiles to Predict Variation in Language and Psychosocial Outcomes in Early and Middle Childhood.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRA genetic profile for expressive language in middle childhood weakly predicted expressive language and later peer problems. The signal was small, and only the peer-problem link held up after chance checks.
• SLPCohort2020Positive Aspects of Emotional Competence in Preventing Internalizing Symptoms in Children with and without Developmental Language Disorder: A Longitudinal Approach.Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with and without language disorder showed fewer anxiety and somatic complaints when they understood emotions, focused less on bodily sensations, and communicated feelings well. These protective factors operated similarly in both groups, suggesting emotion-focused support benefits children with DLD as much as their peers.
• SLPCohort2020Detection and Attention for Auditory, Visual, and Audiovisual Speech in Children with Hearing Loss.Ear and hearingChildren with hearing loss detected audiovisual speech faster and with fewer attentional lapses than auditory speech alone. This benefit was larger than in normal-hearing peers. Visual cues help these children process speech more efficiently, particularly when auditory input is degraded.
• SLPCase-Control2020An investigation into maternal use of telegraphic input to children with Down syndrome.Journal of child languageMothers of children with Down syndrome used fewer words and more telegraphic speech than mothers of age-matched typically developing children. This observational study identifies input differences but does not prove which style helps or hinders language development.
• SLPRCT2019The Impact of Dose and Dose Frequency on Word Learning by Kindergarten Children With Developmental Language Disorder During Interactive Book Reading.Language, speech, and hearing services in schoolsHow you space 36 word exposures during book reading did not change learning, so pick the schedule that fits your caseload. However, children forgot most words within days of ending treatment. Monitor retention after discharge and plan for follow-up encounters to support memory.
• SLPOther2020Family Environment in Children With Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants: Associations With Spoken Language, Psychosocial Functioning, and Cognitive Development.Ear and hearingFamily environments were mostly similar across normal-hearing, hearing-aid and cochlear-implant groups. In children with hearing loss, enriched safe homes, low conflict, supportive interaction and shared recreation went with better language, behaviour and self-control.
• SLPOther2020Therapist-Guided Telerehabilitation for Adult Cochlear Implant Users: Developmental and Feasibility Study.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesAdult cochlear implant users and therapists rated a new web-based auditory training platform as highly usable and enjoyable. Older users found it slightly harder to use and needed more support. This study tested feasibility, not whether the training improves hearing.
• SLPNarrative Review2019Socioeconomic and experiential influences on the neurobiology of language development.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groupsThis is a narrative review, not an original study, so it provides no new finding to change practice.
• SLPNarrative Review2019Optimal Contexts for Verb Learning.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groupsNo new evidence is reported. This narrative review summarizes existing verb-learning research and suggests intervention considerations.
• SLPRCT2020Effects of pivotal response treatment on reciprocal vocal contingency in a randomized controlled trial of children with autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceChildren receiving Pivotal Response Treatment plus parent training showed higher vocal reciprocity with adults after 24 weeks compared to controls. No significant difference was found at baseline or after 12 weeks. This suggests the treatment effect on spontaneous speech interaction emerges with sustained intervention.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2020Early Speech and Language Development in Children With Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip and/or Palate: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRChildren with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate show persistent speech and language delays from toddlerhood through age 8. Receptive language deficits remain even when standardized scores appear normal, so rely on parent reports and naturalistic samples to identify functional issues.
• SLPRCT2019Intervention focus moderates the association between initial receptive language and language outcomes for toddlers with developmental delay.Augmentative and alternative communication (Baltimore, Md. : 1985)For toddlers with developmental delay who were not yet talking, initial understanding strongly predicted later language scores. Among three parent-implemented interventions, input-focused augmented communication linked understanding most strongly to overall expressive language, output-focused linked it to target vocabulary, and spoken-only showed little target vocabulary use.
• SLPCase Series2020Genes Implicated in Rare Congenital Inner Ear and Cochleovestibular Nerve Malformations.Ear and hearingRare DNA variants in candidate genes were found in some children with absent or small cochleovestibular nerves, but not in four families. Device outcomes varied, so these genes are not yet usable predictors.
• SLPOther2020Audiovisual Enhancement of Speech Perception in Noise by School-Age Children Who Are Hard of Hearing.Ear and hearingChildren with mild to severe hearing loss gained 31.7% more keywords from watching the speaker than hearing-only, compared to 15.8% for normal-hearing peers. This suggests auditory-only tests underestimate their speech perception skills in noisy classrooms.
• SLPOther2020Lexical diversity and lexical skills in children who stutter.Journal of fluency disordersChildren who stutter scored lower on standardized vocabulary tests than matched peers, but showed no difference in lexical diversity during spontaneous conversation. Both groups remained within the normal range. This suggests subtle weaknesses appear in structured testing, not natural speech.
• SLPCohort2020Production of noun suffixes by Turkish-speaking children with developmental language disorder and their typically developing peers.International journal of language & communication disordersTurkish-speaking children with developmental language disorder produced noun suffixes significantly less accurately than their typically developing peers, even though Turkish has many learner-friendly features. The gap remained wide across all suffix types, showing that language structure alone does not close the deficit.
• SLPOther2020Cultural differences in the content of child talk: evaluative lexis of English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual 30-month-olds.Journal of child languageWhen overall vocabulary was held constant, bilingual and monolingual children used similar amounts of words about thoughts, wants, and feelings. Bilingual children used fewer words about wanting in English and Spanish than monolingual children did.
• SLPCohort2020Down syndrome and parental depression: A double hit on early expressive language development.Research in developmental disabilitiesChildren with Down syndrome whose parents had depression showed a slower rate of expressive language growth in the first four years. This delay was specific to speaking; understanding, motor skills and visual reception were unaffected. Screening for parental depression may help identify families needing extra language support.
• SLPCase Series2020Measure What You Treat: Using Language Sample Analysis for Grammatical Outcome Measures in Children with Developmental Language Disorder.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groupsAfter treatment, language samples from six children with developmental language disorder showed improved use of the treated grammar target. Average utterance length and vocabulary diversity did not consistently show progress.
• SLPOther2020Creating Accessible Survey Instruments for Use with Autistic Adults and People with Intellectual Disability: Lessons Learned and Recommendations.Autism in adulthoodAutistic adults and people with intellectual disability often find standard survey questions confusing, anxiety-inducing, or culturally invalid. Researchers must adapt language, response options, and context with community partners to get accurate data, rather than relying on unvalidated general-population measures.
• SLPCohort2020Children with language delay referred to Dutch speech and hearing centres: caseload characteristics.International journal of language & communication disordersBoys were referred to speech therapy 5 months earlier than girls, and monolingual children 3 months earlier than bilingual children. Bilingual children were more likely to have combined receptive and expressive problems, suggesting girls and bilingual children with milder issues are being missed.
• SLPOther2020Rapid Perceptual Learning: A Potential Source of Individual Differences in Speech Perception Under Adverse Conditions?Trends in hearingRapid learning of distorted speech predicts how well people understand other challenging speech, independent of hearing loss, vocabulary, and memory. Older adults with hearing loss learn more slowly but still rely on this capacity, suggesting it is a key driver of listening difficulty.