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 9 OF 10 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSLPPilot2025Promoting agency and communication through powered mobility: a single-group, repeated measures intervention using the explorer mini in toddlers with motor disabilities.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesTen toddlers with motor disabilities used a powered mobility device for 12 sessions. They showed significant gains in cognition and receptive language on standardized tests, and increased joyful vocalizations during play, though expressive language changes were mixed.
• SLPOther2025How do parents scaffold their autistic children's bilingual language interactions in everyday settings?Autism : the international journal of research and practiceIn five Spanish-English homes, mothers used more complex Spanish and mixed-language talk, and children produced longer utterances, more words, varied vocabulary, and talk about non-present events.
• SLPOther2025Morphological awareness and reading skill for deaf and hearing adults.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationFor deaf adults reading English, morphological awareness strongly predicts reading comprehension, but only for those who already have high morphological skills. Hearing readers rely more on phonological awareness. This suggests deaf readers use visual word parts to infer meaning, not sound.
• PTOTSLPPilot2026Expressive language and social communication abilities in children with spinal muscular atrophy type 1.Developmental medicine and child neurologyChildren with later-onset SMA type 1 said far more words than those with early onset. Four of 37 screened positive for autism traits, but many parents could not answer questions because motor impairments blocked the behaviours the test asks about.
• SLPOther2025JACDI: WS-SF: A Short-Form Version of the Saudi Arabic Communicative Development Inventory.International journal of language & communication disordersA 100-word checklist for Saudi Arabic toddlers correlates strongly with full vocabulary scores and remains accurate for children under 18 months. It is validated for screening and research, not for diagnosing language disorders.
• SLPSystematic Review2025Examining Neurodiversity in Bilingual Development Research: Recent Insights Through an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Lens.International journal of language & communication disordersMost studies of bilingual neurodivergent children used tools made for monolingual children, and many tested only one language. This can make bilingual abilities look impaired when the problem is the measurement.
• SLPSystematic Review2025Phonological Awareness Skills in Thai-Speaking Children: A Scoping Review.International journal of language & communication disordersPhonological awareness strongly predicts reading in Thai-speaking children. Initial phoneme identification is the most useful screening task. However, no standardised test covers all skills, and current assessments miss speech sound disorders, limiting clinical utility.
• SLPRCT2025Interactive Book Reading to Accelerate Word Learning by Kindergarten Children With Developmental Language Disorder: Incorporating Retrieval-Based Practice Into Training.Language, speech, and hearing services in schoolsAdding more retrieval practice to interactive book reading did not significantly improve word learning or long-term retention for children with developmental language disorder. The intervention was effective overall, but varying the testing proportion made no statistical difference.
• SLPOther2025Convergent Validity of the Cross-Linguistic Lexical Task.International journal of language & communication disordersScores on the Slovak vocabulary naming task were related to parent reports, made-up word repetition and narrative words about feelings, thoughts and states, but parent checklists and child naming often disagreed on individual words. Parents tended to overestimate whether children said less common words.
• SLPOther2025Making Research Accessible to the Developmental Language Disorder Community: A Mixed Methods Study Using the Nominal Group Technique.International journal of language & communication disordersParents and a speech therapist preferred research shared in short, simple formats: plain language summaries with links, flyers, infographics, posters, and videos. They wanted varied formats and people with DLD involved.
• SLPCohort2025The Relationship Between Linguistic Input and Communication Outcomes in Children With Unilateral Hearing Loss: The Impact of Device Fitting.Ear and hearingConversational turn-taking with caregivers predicted better language and listening skills in children with unilateral hearing loss. Hearing aid or implant fitting did not change this relationship, nor did how consistently the device was worn.
• SLPOther2026Applying Principles of Trauma-Informed Caregiver Coaching in Early Language Intervention.Language, speech, and hearing services in schoolsThis tutorial maps trauma-informed principles onto early language intervention but reports no outcomes. It offers a framework for thinking about caregiver coaching, not evidence that the approach works.
• SLPPilot2025Explicit tier two vocabulary instruction for young deaf children.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationDeaf children with low-average vocabulary learned most target words in this small group intervention. Children with very low vocabulary learned and retained far fewer, suggesting grade-level words may be too advanced for them without significant adjustments.
• SLPCase-Control2025Maternal Linguistic Input to Infants Born to Mothers With and Without Postpartum Psychosis and Infant Language Skills: A Preliminary Study.American journal of speech-language pathologyMothers with recent postpartum psychosis gave less verbal input to their infants than controls. However, their infants showed no differences in language skills at 6 to 12 months. This pilot suggests a gap in interaction, but not yet in the child's development.
• SLPCohort2025Sentence Comprehension and L2 Exposure Effects in 6-Year-Old Sequentially Bilingual Children With Typical Development and Developmental Language Disorder.International journal of language & communication disordersMonolingual sentence tests can separate bilingual children with and without language disorder, but accuracy depends heavily on how much Finnish the child has heard. The Sentence Comprehension Test worked best with over 40% exposure, while the RDLS III worked best with less.
• SLPOther2025The Power of Partnership: Adapting Early Language Intervention for Children With Down Syndrome Through Family-Researcher Collaboration.International journal of language & communication disordersFamilies helped adapt a parent-delivered language programme for children with Down syndrome. Parents and children enjoyed the sessions. The adapted version had higher completion rates and required less support for children to participate.
• SLPSystematic Review2025One Call Away: Bilingual Teleassessment for Preschool and Elementary Children: A Systematic Review.International journal of language & communication disordersBilingual teleassessment can yield results comparable to face-to-face testing for preschool and elementary children. Caregivers can reliably administer assessments with clear guidance, though success depends on stable internet, suitable hardware, and careful session planning.
• SLPSurvey2025Can Structured Literacy Be a New Dimension for Interprofessional Practice Between Teachers and SLTs? Perceptions of Irish SLTs on Their Capacity and Practices in Supporting Children With Literacy Difficulties.International journal of language & communication disordersMost Irish SLTs see literacy work as within their scope but feel unprepared for it. Only 13% felt confident working in literacy, and none said their degree prepared them. They value consulting with teachers but rarely find it feasible to team-teach or work inside classrooms.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Longitudinal Developmental Outcomes of Children With Prelingual Single-Sided Deafness With and Without a Cochlear Implant and Recommendations for Follow-Up.Ear and hearingEarly cochlear implantation in children with single-sided deafness improved speech perception in noise and sound localization compared to non-implanted peers. However, it did not significantly improve cognitive scores or balance skills over the non-implanted group, though both implanted and non-implanted groups showed poorer balance than hearing children.
• SLPOther2025Autism spectrum disorder: communicative profile before and after remote family guidance.CoDASAfter remote caregiver guidance, children already receiving speech-language therapy showed more communication attempts, ways of communicating and conversational space; children without therapy showed more attempts only. Guidance was added to therapy, so its separate effect is unclear.
• SLPCohort2025Longitudinal Analyses of Early Verb Production in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with autism showed slower early growth in different verbs than typically developing peers, but only because some had stable low verb use; excluding them removed the group difference. Early growth in different verbs tracked later language scores; early noun growth did not.
• SLPSystematic Review2025Impact of the Use of Interactive Screens on Language Development in Children up to 6 Years of Age: A Systematic Review.Child: care, health and developmentInteractive screens do not uniformly harm language. Heavy, solitary use is linked to delays and poorer vocabulary, but supervised co-viewing or educational content can support learning. Clinicians should assess how and with whom the child uses the device, not just total screen time.
• SLPQualitative2025Navigating sign language learning: insights from hearing parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationParents valued home-based lessons and Deaf teachers but struggled with courses that focused on vocabulary over grammar and ended when children turned four. They reported receiving conflicting advice from professionals, which made choosing between sign and speech difficult.
• SLPOther2025Developmental Changes in Speech Frequency Weighting in Children.Ear and hearingChildren aged 6 to 13 years rely increasingly on high-frequency speech cues as they mature, with importance weights for 2000 and 4000 Hz bands rising with age. Standard adult-based models overestimate children's speech access, suggesting clinical predictions need age-specific adjustments.
• SLPNarrative Review2025The psychometric status of child language assessment tools in South Africa's official languages.The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir KommunikasieafwykingsOnly four child language tests for South Africa's official languages are validated, and none have current reference scores. Many tools remain incomplete, so therapists often lack ready ways to assess children's language.
• SLPSurvey2025Attitudes Towards Bilingualism: Insights From Parents of Children With Down Syndrome.International journal of language & communication disordersMost parents chose bilingualism for children with Down syndrome, yet rated it less important than for siblings and often worried about confusion or lack of support. Professional advice varied, with some families told to use one language only.
• SLPOther2025Deciphering the Language in Our DNA and Leveraging the Discoveries Toward Improved Outcomes: Introduction to the Forum.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRThis forum introduces how genetic research in speech and language can inform clinical practice. It highlights precision medicine approaches like early intervention and targeted therapies, while emphasizing that behavior is influenced by many factors beyond genetics alone.
• SLPOther2025Disentangling bilingualism and developmental language disorder in the acquisition of Spanish articles and clitics: Quantitative and qualitative contributions.Journal of child languageWhen assessing Spanish-speaking children, look at clitics rather than articles. Children with developmental language disorder omitted clitics far more often than typically developing peers, regardless of whether they were bilingual or monolingual.
• SLPNarrative Review2025Developmental Language Disorder as a Multidimensional Neurodevelopmental Spectrum: Implications for Diagnosis.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRNo original clinical finding is reported. This is a review and conceptual proposal about developmental language disorder diagnosis, so there is nothing here to change practice.
• SLPQualitative2026Self-Experienced Difficulties in Communicative Participation in Children With Speech, Language and Communication Needs-A Concept Elicitation Study.International journal of language & communication disordersChildren identified 44 specific barriers to communication, including partner characteristics, noisy locations, and the pace of conversation. Younger children and those with language disorders struggled to reflect on these experiences. These concepts serve as conversation starters for goal setting, not tested interventions.
• SLPOther2026Reading comprehension intervention in populations with developmental language disorder: A scoping review.Journal of communication disordersInterventions targeting vocabulary and morphology showed consistent gains, while decoding and discourse results varied. Most studies were small, short, and lacked blinding, so no single approach is proven superior for improving reading comprehension in children with developmental language disorder.
• SLPOther2026The Interplay Between Language, Executive Functioning, Theory of Mind and Socio-Emotional Functioning - A Comparison Between Adolescents With and Without DLD.International journal of language & communication disordersAdolescents with DLD had lower receptive vocabulary and lower scores on understanding what others think, and lower parent-reported socio-emotional functioning than typically developing peers. When all abilities were considered together, only understanding what others think was associated with socio-emotional functioning.
• SLPCohort2026Effortful control and expressive language in deaf or hard-of-hearing children: The contributions of caregiver language and parenting stress.Journal of child languageFor deaf or hard-of-hearing children with poor self-regulation, rich caregiver language during play may buffer against expressive language delays. This benefit disappears if the caregiver reports high parenting stress, suggesting stress undermines the protective effect of input.
• SLPQualitative2026Teachers' use of semiotic resources in the multimodal-multilingual language instruction.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationTeachers adapted communication by linking students' heritage signs to German Sign Language and written German. They used fingerspelling, mouthing, and visual aids to bridge gaps. This responsive calibration helped students connect new language targets with existing repertoires.
• SLPSystematic Review2026Factors Affecting Communication Outcomes for Deaf and Multilingual Learners: A Systematic Review.International journal of language & communication disordersDeaf children using several spoken languages were reported to do better when support included home and community language. English-only support was linked to weaker home-language skills. Parent empowerment and rich language exposure also mattered.
• SLPOther2026Resting state aperiodic and periodic EEG activity in preschool-aged autistic children: differences from neurotypical peers and links to language skills.Molecular autismIn preschool autistic children, lower brain background noise and stronger alpha rhythms linked to better language. These EEG features tracked language skills regardless of autism diagnosis. This suggests specific brain activity patterns, not just the diagnosis itself, relate to how well these children speak and understand.
• SLPOther2026Improved Singing Accuracy in Children With Bilateral Hearing Devices With More Musical Activities and Better Verbal Fluency.Ear and hearingChildren with hearing devices sang as accurately as children with normal hearing. The music course did not improve accuracy. More everyday music and better animal naming went with better pitch.
• SLPSurvey2026Risk Factors for Children's Vocabulary Performance: Background Variables and Parental Concerns.International journal of language & communication disordersParents' concerns about language delay align with lower vocabulary scores. Children with concerned parents averaged the 31st percentile, while unconcerned children averaged the 63rd. Word combination ability predicted vocabulary in concerned groups, while onset of speaking predicted it in unconcerned groups.
• SLPCohort2026Quantitative but Not Qualitative Differences: A Longitudinal Analysis of Grammatical Marker Development in Mandarin-Speaking Autistic Children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchMandarin-speaking autistic children acquired grammatical markers in the same order as typically developing peers, but at a slower pace. Autism severity and initial language ability did not change this sequence. This supports targeting general language skills, as specific grammar instruction may not be needed early on.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2026Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) in etiologically diverse developmental conditions: A systematic review.Research in developmental disabilitiesCDIs reliably flag delayed expressive vocabulary in autism and Down syndrome, but standard scores often underestimate ability when children use signs or have low intelligibility. Use longitudinal tracking for progress, not single-timepoint screening, and adapt forms to include gesture.
• SLPOther2026Acceptability of a Digital Early Years Language Support Service for Caregivers of Children Who Have SLCN and/or Are Multilingual.International journal of language & communication disordersCaregivers rated weekly language support videos and online speech therapy as highly acceptable. They valued brief, practical content and human contact, but said videos needed more representation of diverse development, languages and family circumstances.
• SLPCase-Control2026Nonword Repetition Assessing Auditory and Cognitive Abilities in Adult Cochlear Implant Users.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRAdult cochlear implant users repeated significantly fewer nonwords than normal-hearing peers, especially after age 67. Poorer performance was predicted by reduced spectral resolution and weaker reading or vocabulary skills, not working memory, suggesting bottom-up auditory limits drive phonological difficulties.
• SLPCohort2026Maternal Child-Directed Speech Toward Children With Infantile Spasm or West Syndrome.International journal of language & communication disordersMothers of children with West Syndrome used more emotional exclamations and fewer questions than mothers of typically developing children. This shift toward affective speech may help sustain engagement but could limit opportunities for language learning by reducing referential scaffolding.
• SLPOther2026Language Subdomains in Children on the Autism Spectrum: Cross-Sectional Study of Morphologically Rich Language.Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP)When matched on vocabulary, children on the autism spectrum did not differ from typically developing children on grammar scores. Vocabulary and grammar rose together in both groups, and vocabulary age was about 2 to 3 months ahead of morphology age.
• SLPOther2026Visual Implicit Learning and Speech Recognition in Adult Post-Lingual Cochlear Implant Users.Trends in hearingPost-lingual adult cochlear implant users picked up visual patterns about as well as hearing adults. Those who did it better understood sentences and words in background noise more accurately, but the study cannot show that improving this skill would help.
• SLPPilot2026A Customised, Intensive Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Children With Down Syndrome: Findings From a Real-World Pilot Effectiveness Study.International journal of language & communication disordersParents of young children with Down syndrome learned most of the programme's interaction and signing strategies to its accuracy targets in about 11 weeks of coaching, but used them more often only slightly, and children's language gains cannot be attributed to the programme.
• SLPPilot2026Specialist-mediated play therapy for toddlers with language developmental delay: a single-center observational pilot study.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesToddlers with mild language delay gained more when play sessions were designed and supervised by a developmental paediatrician than with clinic-based speech therapy or parent-led home training: language quotient 5.8 to 6.3 points higher at 12 months. Groups were not randomised.
• SLPSystematic Review2026Digital Technologies for Children With Hearing Impairments to Support Language Learning: Scoping Review.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesMost digital tools for children with hearing loss are mobile apps, and most of those teach sign vocabulary. Only 12 of 45 studies reported any outcomes at all, and they were small and short, so nothing here shows these tools work.
• SLPCohort2026Language development of premature children followed up in an outpatient clinic: a preliminary study.CoDASNone of the birth, medical or family factors tested in these 61 premature children was linked to their language scores. Boys and children from poorer families had more low scores, but those patterns did not reach significance.
• SLPOther2026'Better Conversations With Developmental Language Disorder': Designing a Novel Intervention for School-Aged Children and Their Main Carers.International journal of language & communication disorders