Purpose: The lexical selection hypothesis posits that first words added to a toddler's spoken vocabulary will be predominantly those beginning with early developing consonant phonemes. Using this framework, we evaluated the relationship between word form and lexical selection among late talkers and two typical comparison groups. Method: An online…

Purpose: Children who have late language emergence, or are late talkers (LTs), have substantially lower vocabulary levels than their peers, on average. Notably, differences in how researchers define "who" comprises LTs can lead to inconsistencies across findings. The current study examined how the number of children identified as LTs…

While studies have documented neural correlates of language delay in toddlers with developmental conditions, those at genetic risk for language delay, and those born premature, no studies have examined neural correlates in toddlers exhibiting early language delay without known aetiology. This study examines brain morphometry in toddlers with and…

Purpose: The aims of this study were (a) to evaluate the convergent validity of the Language Use Inventory (LUI) with measures of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms, language, and social skills and (b) to assess discriminant validity of the LUI with measures of nonlanguage skills, including daily living skills and motor development. Method:…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if the Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers (VAULT) intervention could be efficaciously applied to a new treatment target: words a child neither understood nor said. We also assessed whether the type of context variability used to encourage semantic learning (i.e., action or object)…

Purpose: Cross-situational statistical learning is one mechanism by which typically developing toddlers map words to referents. Yet, this type of statistical learning has been found less efficient in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). The purpose of this article is to evaluate cross-situational statistical learning in very young…

Purpose: Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS), a rare, genetically linked complex developmental disorder caused by a deletion or mutation within chromosome 17p11.2, is associated with delays in speech-language development, otopathology, and hearing loss, yet previous studies lack comprehensive descriptions of hearing and communication profiles. Here,…

Purpose: Limited research exists assessing speech perception in school-age children with speech sound disorder (SSD) and childhood apraxia of speech (CAS); despite early evidence that speech perception may lead to error-prone motor planning/programming. In this study, we examine speech perception performance in school-age children with and without…

Purpose: Bilingual children are both over- and under-identified with developmental language disorder (DLD). We propose that this may be a function of monolingual approaches that fail to consider the dynamic nature of bilingualism as well as assumptions of bilingual delay. We explored the extent to which bilingual children with and without DLD…

Purpose: Speech sound disorder (SSD) is one of the major speech disorders in school-age children. Given the heterogeneity in terms of subtypes within SSD, there is a need to develop techniques for a quick identification of these subtypes. Furthermore, given the paucity of studies from children with SSD from Cantonese-speaking homes and a noted…

Purpose: Early language intervention is essential for children with indicators of language delay. Enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) is a naturalistic intervention that supports the language development of children with emerging language. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all qualifying single-case and group design studies that…

Every year in America, more than half a million parents of late-talking children face agonizing questions: What should I do if my two- or even three-year-old has not yet begun to talk? Should I worry that my child is autistic or intellectually disabled? Are expensive therapies or medications needed? Will my child ever speak normally? In this…

During their early years, children with autism may not meet the same communication and language milestones as their peers (Wodka et al., 2013). Many children with autism experience language delays and may rely on one-word or phrase speech, rather than using grammatically fluent speech (Anderson et al., 2007; Wodka et al., 2013) that is often…

Background: Tamil is a member of the Dravidian language family, and it is spoken extensively in several South Asian countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. The phonological development of Tamil-speaking children is examined in the current study within the context of lexical development by including children with typical…

Despite the importance of identifying children with developmental language delay, no accurate screening instruments are available for 3-year-olds. The aim of the present study is to compare the accuracy of the General Language Screen (GLS), focusing on receptive and expressive language and intelligibility with the accuracy of the VTO Language…