Speech and language therapy for pragmatic language impairments
Children who have pragmatic language impairments have difficulty with language comprehension, telling stories and participating in conversations. This can lead to further problems with integrating into the peer group and in keeping up in the classroom. These children typically receive help from a speech and language therapist (SLT) whose role it is to work with the teaching staff and sometimes directly with the child. However, research has not established the most effective method of SLT intervention for these children despite a great demand for this knowledge.
In this project the researchers studied the effects of an intervention programme which has been developed by the Manchester team. Using a number of different measures of language and social functioning they hoped to gain evidence for the effectiveness of SLT intervention for these children and obtain a better understanding of the factors within the child which predict success. In addition they aimed to determine what the children, their parents and teachers value about the intervention.
Researchers
Dr Catherine Adams and Dr Elaine Lockton with Dr Catherine Aldred, Ms Janet Baxendale, Professor Jonathan Green, Professor James Law, Dr Marysia Nash, University of Manchester
Grant amount and duration
£390,096
1 January 2007 - 31 December 2010
Two papers in the International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, vol 47 (3), May-June 2012:
The Social Communication Intervention Project: a randomized controlled trial of the effectiveness of speech and language therapy for school-age children who have pragmatic and social communication problems with or without autism spectrum disorder by Catherine Adams, Elaine Lockton, Jenny Freed, Jacqueline Gaile, Gillian Earl, Kirsty McBean, Marysia Nash, Jonathan Green, Andy Vail & James Law
Implementation of a manualized communication intervention for school-aged children with pragmatic and social communication needs in a randomized controlled trial: the Social Communication Intervention Project by Catherine Adams, Elaine Lockton, Jacqueline Gaile, Gillian Earl & Jenny Free
See also
- Interventions for children with speech and language difficulties
- Enhancing Language and Communication in Secondary Schools (ELCISS)
- Educational provision for children with SSLD
- Nuffield Early Language Intervention
- Communicating uncertainty in data without undermining trust
- RCT of parent-based models of speech and language therapy
- Dialogic book-sharing & cognitive & socio-emotional development