The long-term objective of this research program is to characterize and to facilitate the language development of young children with a variety of established disabilities who encounter significant difficult acquiring speech. Sixty children will be assessed, randomly assigned to participate in one of three interventions, and followed at 6- and 12-months after the intervention.
The specific aims are: 1) to develop a fine-grained 18 month longitudinal description of the communication development of 24-36 month old children; 2) to compare the effects of three interventions: Augmented Communication Input (ACI) which focuses on comprehension, modeling, and augmented input, Augmentative Communication Output (ACO), which focuses on production and augmented output, or Non-Augmented Communication (NAC), which focuses on a well-established spoken communication intervention, on the comprehension and production of symbols and words, the transfer of skills to hormone, and parental perception of child communication; and 3) to determine the effects of the interventions on communication, adaptive behavior, and educational placement at 6- and 12- months following the intervention. During Pre-Intervention, the 60 participants will complete an assessment battery that includes descriptive, cognitive, communication, and family measures and provides a baseline database on each child. In Intervention, the children will be randomly assigned to one of the three interventions to determine the effects of two augmented language interventions versus oral communication intervention. In each intervention, the child and parent will participate in two 30-minute sessions a week across a 12 week period. Generalization to home, words/symbols comprehended and produced by the child, and parent perception of the child's communication will be assessed. In Follow-Up, 6- and 12-months post intervention measures of communication, adaptive behavior, parent perception, and educational placement will be administered. Findings will advance knowledge about the role of augmented language systems early in life and facilitate the children's adaptive behavior, educational placement, and long-term integration into society.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC003799-04
Application #
6634488
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BBBP-3 (03))
Program Officer
Shekim, Lana O
Project Start
2000-03-01
Project End
2005-02-28
Budget Start
2003-03-01
Budget End
2004-02-29
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$414,152
Indirect Cost
Name
Georgia State University
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
837322494
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30302
Smith, Ashlyn L; Romski, Maryann; Sevcik, Rose A et al. (2014) Parent Stress and Perceptions of Language Development: Comparing Down Syndrome and Other Developmental Disabilities. Fam Relat 63:71-84
Whitmore, Ani S; Romski, Mary Ann; Sevcik, Rose A (2014) Early augmented language intervention for children with developmental delays: potential secondary motor outcomes. Augment Altern Commun 30:200-12
Edrisinha, Chaturi (2012) Parent stress appears to be associated with child expressive language abilities and not affected by a parent-implemented communication intervention. Evid Based Commun Assess Interv 6:97-100
Romski, MaryAnn; Sevcik, Rose A; Adamson, Lauren B et al. (2011) Parent perceptions of the language development of toddlers with developmental delays before and after participation in parent-coached language interventions. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 20:111-8
Romski, MaryAnn; Sevcik, Rose A; Adamson, Lauren B et al. (2010) Randomized comparison of augmented and nonaugmented language interventions for toddlers with developmental delays and their parents. J Speech Lang Hear Res 53:350-64
Adamson, Lauren B; Romski, MaryAnn; Bakeman, Roger et al. (2010) Augmented language intervention and the emergence of symbol-infused joint engagement. J Speech Lang Hear Res 53:1769-73
Sevcik, Rose A (2006) Comprehension: an overlooked component in augmented language development. Disabil Rehabil 28:159-67