Risk For Specific Language Impairment Research Articles

Language skills and friendships in kindergarten classrooms: A social network analysis.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent that language skills contribute to kindergarten children's classroom-based friendship networks. We assessed language skills and collected friendship data via individual interviews of 419 children from 21 kindergarten classrooms. Using social network analysis, we found that language skills were significantly associated with friendship centrality and reciprocity after controlling for classroom and child-level factors. Children classified as at risk for specific language impairment (SLI) were significantly less central to friendship networks, and the odds of a reciprocal friendship tie were more than 50% lower compared to children who were not classified as at risk. Of children at risk, girls were significantly more central than boys. We couch our results within limitations of our study and provide recommendations for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Exploring Sentence Diversity at the Boundary of Typical and Impaired Language Abilities.

PurposeThis review article summarizes programmatic research on sentence diversity in toddlers developing language typically and explores developmental patterns of sentence diversity in toddlers at risk for specific language impairment.MethodThe first half of this review article presents a sentence-focused approach to language assessment and intervention and reviews findings from empirical studies of sentence diversity. In the second half, subject and verb diversity in three simple sentence types are explored in an archival database of toddlers with varying levels of grammatical outcomes at 36 months of age: low average, mild/moderate delay, and severe delay.ResultsDescriptive findings from the archival database replicated previous developmental patterns. All toddlers with low-average language abilities produced diverse simple sentences by 30 months of age and exhibited greater sentence diversity with first-person I-subjects before third-person subjects. Third-person subject diversity emerged in a developmental sequence, increasing in one-argument copula contexts and one-argument subject–verb sentences before two-argument subject–verb–object sentences. This developmental pattern held across all three outcome groups. Third-person subjects were least diverse for children with severe grammatical delays and were absent in all sentence contexts for two children with severe delays at 36 months.ConclusionsSentence diversity increases gradually and expands in predictable patterns. Understanding these developmental patterns may help identify and treat children who display unexpected difficulty combining different subjects and verbs in flexible ways.Supplemental Material and Presentation Video https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12915320

A-065 Weakness in Holistic Processing in Preschool Children is a Risk for SLI

Abstract Objectives Children with specific language impairment (SLI) have difficulties with producing and understanding language. It is important to search for the risk factors for this deficit in children. The goal of this research was to examine the hypothesis that children at the age of 5 with weakness in holistic processing have a risk for emerging deficit in grammar understanding at the age of 7. Methods 98 children at the age of 5 were assessed with the Rey-Osterieth Complex Figure Test to reveal children with weakness in holistic processing. It was proposed that part-oriented strategy in copying Complex Figure is related to weakness in holistic processing (Luria, 1973). We have revealed 19 children with weakness in holistic processing. These children were included in the experimental group. The control group included 19 children with typical level of holistic processing. Children from experimental and control group were matched for IQ and gender. Children at the age of 7 from both groups were assessed by Grammar Understanding Test from Luria’s neuropsychological assessment technique. Results One-way ANOVA has revealed significant differences [p ≤ 0,05] between groups for scores in Grammar Understanding Test. Children from the experimental group showed a lower level of grammar understanding. Conclusion This research has shown that weakness in holistic processing can predict the delay in development of grammar understanding in children. The received results shed light into underlying nature of SLI. It can be assumed that weakness in holistic processing is one of the risk factors for emerging deficit in grammar understanding in children.

Connective Ending Awareness of Early School-Aged Children at Risk for Specific Language Impairment

배경 및 목적: 본 연구는 구문능력이 정교화되고 문법인식이 지속적으로 발달하는 초등학교 저학년 단순언어장애 위험 아동과 일반 아동을 대상으로 연결어미 인식 능력의 특성을 살펴보고자 하였다. 방법: 초등학교 1-3학년 단순언어장애 위험 아동, 생활연령과 성별을 일치시킨 일반아동, 총 32명이 연구에 참여하였다. 연결어미 인식검사는 변환과제, 판단과제,...

Two Grammatical Tasks for Screening Language Abilities in Spanish-Speaking Children.

This study assessed concurrent validity evidence for 2 grammatical tasks of a new screener, the Tamiz de Problemas de Lenguaje, for identifying monolingual Spanish-speaking children at risk for specific language impairment with grammatical deficits. A total of 770 4- to 6-year-old monolingual, Spanish-speaking children with and without language impairment were sampled from 3 different states in Mexico. Multiple logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curve analyses were conducted to assess the predictive utility of the model and the classification accuracy of the tasks. The criterion was diagnosis of specific language impairment with grammatical deficits on the basis of a comprehensive language assessment. Results indicated that sensitivity estimates ranged from .90 to .94 and specificity estimates from .83 to .92. Overall, there was a good balance between sensitivity and specificity estimates with moderate to large positive and negative likelihood ratios. Results suggested that the 2 grammatical tasks are suitable for identifying 4- to 6-year-old monolingual Spanish-speaking children at risk for grammatical deficits.

Case History Risk Factors for Specific Language Impairment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Research suggests that the best approach to early identification of children with specific language impairment (SLI) should include assessment of risk factors. However, previous attempts to develop a list for this purpose have been unsuccessful. In this study, systematic review and meta-analytic procedures were used to determine whether any case history factors can be used to identify toddlers at risk of developing SLI. Epidemiological studies that examined the association between risk factors and SLI were identified. Results across studies were aggregated to determine more precisely the strength of association between each risk factor and the development of SLI. The clinical significance of these factors was established via comparison to late talker status. Eleven risk factors were found to be statistically significant predictors of SLI. Among these, maternal education level, 5-min Apgar score, birth order, and biological sex met criteria for clinical significance. At least 4 case history factors are as predictive as late talker status in the context of early identification of toddlers at risk for SLI. The findings of this review highlight the importance of taking a child's genetic and environmental context into consideration when deciding whether further evaluation and early intervention services are warranted. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.5150122.

A CDI study of bilingual English-Hebrew children – frequency of exposure as a major source of variation

ABSTRACTThe present study explores the vocabulary development of bilingual children when neither of their languages has a minority language status. With both languages having high relative prestige, it is possible to address the impact of exposure variables: age of onset, length of exposure, and frequency of exposure (FoE) to both languages. Parents of 40 English-Hebrew bilingual children, from mid–high socio-economic status, completed the vocabulary checklist of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) [Fenson et al. 1991. MacArthur-Bates CDI Words and Sentences. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing], its Hebrew adaptation [Maital et al. 2000. “The Hebrew CDI: Language Specific Properties and Cross-Linguistic Generalizations.” Journal of Child Language 27: 43–67], and a background questionnaire. Two-thirds of the children showed balanced bilingualism, reflecting the relatively higher prestige of the two languages. FoE emerged as the major exposure variable, other than chronological age that contributes to the maintenance of L1 and acquisition of L2 by bilinguals who are dominant in one of their languages. Analysis of individual data shows how using a bilingual CDI can help identify children who are at risk for Specific Language Impairment, testing both languages and generating provisional bilingual norms, or using conceptual vocabulary with monolingual norms.

Risk Factors Associated With Language in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Clues to Underlying Mechanisms.

Identifying risk factors associated with neurodevelopmental disorders is an important line of research, as it will lead to earlier identification of children who could benefit from interventions that support optimal developmental outcomes. The primary goal of this review was to summarize research on risk factors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The review focused on studies of infants who have older siblings with ASD, with particular emphasis on risk factors associated with language impairment that affects the majority of children with ASD. Findings from this body of work were compared to the literature on specific language impairment. A wide range of risk factors has been found for ASD, including demographic (e.g., male, family history), behavioral (e.g., gesture, motor) and neural risk markers (e.g., atypical lateralization for speech and reduced functional connectivity). Environmental factors, such as caregiver interaction, have not been found to predict language outcomes. Many of the risk markers for ASD are also found in studies of risk for specific language impairment, including demographic, behavioral, and neural factors. There are significant gaps in the literature and limitations in the current research that preclude direct cross-syndrome comparisons. Future research directions are outlined that could address these limitations.

Exome sequencing in an admixed isolated population indicates NFXL1 variants confer a risk for specific language impairment.

Children affected by Specific Language Impairment (SLI) fail to acquire age appropriate language skills despite adequate intelligence and opportunity. SLI is highly heritable, but the understanding of underlying genetic mechanisms has proved challenging. In this study, we use molecular genetic techniques to investigate an admixed isolated founder population from the Robinson Crusoe Island (Chile), who are affected by a high incidence of SLI, increasing the power to discover contributory genetic factors. We utilize exome sequencing in selected individuals from this population to identify eight coding variants that are of putative significance. We then apply association analyses across the wider population to highlight a single rare coding variant (rs144169475, Minor Allele Frequency of 4.1% in admixed South American populations) in the NFXL1 gene that confers a nonsynonymous change (N150K) and is significantly associated with language impairment in the Robinson Crusoe population (p = 2.04 × 10–4, 8 variants tested). Subsequent sequencing of NFXL1 in 117 UK SLI cases identified four individuals with heterozygous variants predicted to be of functional consequence. We conclude that coding variants within NFXL1 confer an increased risk of SLI within a complex genetic model.

Predicting the outcome of specific language impairment at five years of age through early developmental assessment in preterm infants

BackgroundVery preterm infants (<30weeks of gestation) are at increased risk of specific language impairment and systematic developmental follow-up is essential for the provision of targeted early intervention. AimsTo define the predictive value of early language testing and stability of language development, and perinatal and demographic risk factors for the diagnosis of SLI at 5years, in a cohort of preterm infants. Study designWe used a retrospective hospital based cohort study. SubjectsPreterm infants <30weeks of gestation, were cared for in NICU at RPAH, between 2004 and 2007, and prospectively enrolled in developmental follow-up. Standardised developmental assessment was done at 3years utilising the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III was done at 5years. Outcome measuresPredictive value and stability of early language testing were assessed with respect to SLI at 5years, using measures of diagnostic accuracy and kappa values. Multivariate logistic regression was performed during the distribution of perinatal and demographic risk factors for SLI. ResultsOne-in-five met diagnostic criteria for SLI (19%, n=24). Limited diagnostic accuracy was found with early expressive language and the stability of language scores demonstrated only fair agreement (Cohen's κ .383). Multilingual status and extreme gestational age at 24–25weeks were associated with a six-fold increased risk of SLI (OR 6.09, 95% CI 1.89–19.56; OR 6.09, 95% CI 1.28–29.0). ConclusionWe defined a high incidence of SLI among our cohort, but only a limited diagnostic accuracy of early language testing. Multilingual status and extreme prematurity were independent risk factors for SLI. It remains imperative to perform continued developmental assessments beyond pre-school age to identify language impairment with greater accuracy.

Identifying risk for specific language impairment with narrow and global measures of grammar

In this study, we ask (1) whether measures of the developmental level of the tense/agreement morphemes used by children have diagnostic value, as has been found for tense/agreement consistency; and (2) whether global measures of accuracy can be applied to children four and five years of age. The spontaneous speech samples of 112 four- and five-year-olds with specific language impairment (SLI) or typical language were analyzed. Group differences were seen for the developmental level of the children’s tense/agreement morpheme use, but diagnostic accuracy did not reach acceptable levels, in contrast to a measure of tense/agreement consistency applied to the same data. A global measure of grammatical accuracy was found to be useful, but more appropriate for screening children already viewed as at risk for language difficulties. These findings suggest that an extended period of tense/agreement inconsistency may be more central to SLI than alternative measures related to tense/agreement morphology.

Deficient language acquisition in children with single suture craniosynostosis and deformational posterior plagiocephaly

This study examined early language acquisition in children with single suture craniosynostosis (SSC) and in children with deformational posterior plagiocephaly. Our purpose was to determine whether infants with SSC have normal language acquisition at the age of 3 years, and whether infants with deformational posterior plagiocephaly demonstrate parallel development when compared with children with SSC. The study population includes 61 infants. Twenty of them had synostosis of the sagittal suture, 12 synostosis of other suture and 29 deformational posterior plagiocephaly. Forty-nine of them were operated on a mean age of 10.6 months, and 12 were non-operated children with deformational posterior plagiocephaly. Language skills of participants were prospectively evaluated at the mean age of 3 years 4 months. About one half of the subjects (49%) had normal linguistic development, 30% had slight developmental problems and 21% had severe disorders in speech-language-related skills. These figures showed the prevalence of severe language disorders to be three times higher in our study population when compared with the general population. Children with sagittal synostosis managed better in all language skills compared with other types of SSC. Defective language development was found in deformational posterior plagiocephaly, both operated and non-operated. We found a noticeable developmental risk for specific language impairment in children with nonsyndromic SSC, and that the deviant language development is observable already in early infancy. Contrary to previous beliefs, the developmental risk for defective language development in deformational posterior plagiocephaly was found in both operated and non-operated subjects.

On the nature and cause of Specific Language Impairment: A view from sentence processing and infant research

This paper addresses the nature and cause of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) by reviewing recent research in sentence processing of children with SLI compared to typically developing (TD) children and research in infant speech perception. These studies have revealed that children with SLI are sensitive to syntactic, semantic, and real-world information, but do not show sensitivity to grammatical morphemes with low phonetic saliency, and they show longer reaction times than age-matched controls. TD children from the age of 4 show trace reactivation, but some children with SLI fail to show this effect, which resembles the pattern of adults and TD children with low working memory. Finally, findings from the German Language Development (GLAD) Project have revealed that a group of children at risk for SLI had a history of an auditory delay and impaired processing of prosodic information in the first months of their life, which is not detectable later in life. Although this is a single project that needs to be replicated with a larger group of children, it provides preliminary support for accounts of SLI which make an explicit link between an early deficit in the processing of phonology and later language deficits, and the Computational Complexity Hypothesis that argues that the language deficit in children with SLI lies in difficulties integrating different types of information at the interfaces.

Phonological working memory in Spanish–English bilingual children with and without specific language impairment

We examined the performance of sequential bilingual children with and without Specific Language Impairment (SLI), who had Spanish as an L1 and English as their L2, on an auditory non-word repetition task using Spanish phonotactic patterns. We also analyzed the accuracy with which this task distinguished these children (according to children's and mothers’ performance). Eleven Hispanic children with SLI ( M = 8;10), 11 age-matched children with Typical Language Development (TLD, M = 9;1), and 12 mothers, participated. They were living in New York City. The participants’ repetition of 20 non-words (four at each of five syllable lengths) was scored for item and segmental accuracy, and error type. We examined the relations among children's non-word repetition performance, language scores, and, for a subset of the children, their mothers’ non-word repetition performance. The percentage of correct non-words was significantly lower in children with SLI than in children with TLD. A length effect was found in 3–4–5 syllable non-words. Consonant substitutions and consonant omissions were significantly higher in children with SLI than with TLD. Both groups showed a similar relative pattern of more consonant than vowel errors. The children's non-word repetition performance correlated strongly with three of the four Spanish ITPA subtests we administered. The mothers of children with SLI performed more poorly than the mothers of the children with TLD, for the 20 non-words and the subset of 3–4–5 syllable non-words. Non-word repetition performance is an accurate identifier of language status in these groups (likelihood ratios are reported). The potential clinical application of this task in identifying SLI in bilingual Spanish-speaking children (on the basis of children's and mothers’ performance) is discussed. Learning outcomes: In the future, with a set of norms, this task could be used as a screening test to help detecting children with SLI or at risk for SLI.

Individual Differences in the Onset of Tense Marking: A Growth-Curve Analysis

The purpose of this study was to explore individual differences in children's tense onset growth trajectories and to determine whether any within- or between-child predictors could account for these differences. Twenty-two children with expressive vocabulary abilities in the low-average to below-average range participated. Sixteen children were at risk for specific language impairment (SLI), and 6 children had low-average language abilities. Spontaneous language samples, obtained at 3-month intervals between 2;0 and 3;0, were analyzed to examine change in a cumulative productivity score for 5 tense morphemes: third person singular present, past tense, copula BE, auxiliary BE, and auxiliary DO. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to model intercept and linear growth at 30 months and quadratic growth overall. A growth model that included mean length of utterance (MLU) and MLU growth better explained within-child productivity score growth trajectories than a parallel model with vocabulary and vocabulary growth. Significant linear growth in productivity scores remained even after a control for MLU was in place. When between-child predictors were added in the final conditional model, only positive family history approached statistical significance, improving the overall estimation of the model's growth parameters. The findings support theoretical models of language acquisition that claim relative independence of tense marking from other more general aspects of vocabulary development and sentence length. The trends for family history are also consistent with proposals implicating faulty genetic mechanisms underlying developmental language disorders. Systematic use of familial risk data is recommended in future investigations examining the relationship between late-talking children and children at risk for SLI.

Assessing the Emergence of Grammar in Toddlers at Risk for Specific Language Impairment

The purpose of this article is to identify areas of grammatical development that can be incorporated into risk-factor assessment models for toddlers between the ages of 2 and 3. A simple framework is presented for conceptualizing three early grammatical accomplishments: the acquisition of an initial verb lexicon, production of early sentence types, and the onset of tense marking. Strategies for using parent-report instruments and structure-specific language sampling to assess these areas in a time-efficient manner are provided.

The Onset of Tense Marking in Children at Risk for Specific Language Impairment

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate measures reflecting the onset of tense marking for children between the ages of 2;0 (years;months) and 3;0. The validity of 4 cumulative measures of tense marker emergence and productivity was evaluated relative to existing measures of early grammatical development in a sample of 20 children followed longitudinally. Fourteen children were at risk for specific language impairment (AR-SLI group), and 6 children had low average language abilities (LA group). All measures of onset were highly correlated with the traditional measures; however, children's progress toward mastery of grammatical tense marking was best explained by the productivity of their tense marking systems. Finally, the onset measures imposing productivity requirements best differentiated children in the LA group from those in the AR-SLI group. The clinical implications for using the late onset of tense marking to improve the early identification of SLI are discussed.

Tracking children from poverty at risk for specific language impairment: A 3-year longitudinal study: Fazio B.B.; Naremore R.C.; Connell P.J.J. Speech Hear. Res. (USA) (1996) 39/3 (611–624)

Tracking children from poverty at risk for specific language impairment: A 3-year longitudinal study: Fazio B.B.; Naremore R.C.; Connell P.J.J. Speech Hear. Res. (USA) (1996) 39/3 (611–624)