This proposal describes a research program designed to determine the factors that contribute to the familial aggregation of specific language disorders in families. The proposed research will identify those clinical measures necessary for the diagnosis of specific language disorders in adults. These measures will then be combined with a set of existing measures for children to determine the presence of specific language impairment (probands). Pedigrees for specific language impairment will be generated. Using these pedigrees, complex segregation analysis will be performed to determine whether there is a major genetic locus, as well as the extent to which genetic heterogeneity is present in these families showing a high density of specific language disorder. The DNA and leukocytes will be recovered from this blood for the purposes of future analysis. This research is concerned with improving our understanding of the causes of a form of developmental language disorder in which the primary manifestation is a deficit in language development in spite of apparently normal auditory sensitivity and nonverbal intelligence. By determining the basis of this familial aggregation, improved early identification, and prevention may be possible.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01DC000612-01
Application #
3217214
Study Section
Communication Sciences and Disorders (CMS)
Project Start
1989-05-01
Project End
1992-04-30
Budget Start
1989-05-01
Budget End
1990-04-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1989
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Iowa
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041294109
City
Iowa City
State
IA
Country
United States
Zip Code
52242
Tomblin, J B; Abbas, P J; Records, N L et al. (1995) Auditory evoked responses to frequency-modulated tones in children with specific language impairment. J Speech Hear Res 38:387-92
Records, N L; Tomblin, J B (1994) Clinical decision making: describing the decision rules of practicing speech-language pathologists. J Speech Hear Res 37:144-56
Tomblin, J B; Freese, P R; Records, N L (1992) Diagnosing specific language impairment in adults for the purpose of pedigree analysis. J Speech Hear Res 35:832-43
Tomblin, J B; Hardy, J C; Hein, H A (1991) Predicting poor-communication status in preschool children using risk factors present at birth. J Speech Hear Res 34:1096-105