ASHA Learning Pass

This course focuses on a meaning-based approach to language assessment and intervention for intentional communication skills in young children. The nonlinguistic and linguistic context support meaning-driven communication expressed with language form from the child. Speakers discuss language sample analysis and the developmental hierarchy of Language Content/Form/Use, and highlight how this approach is less biased than norm-based assessments when used with children from culturally and linguistically diverse contexts. Speakers show evidence from the Stanford University Wordbank, (MacArthur-Bates CDI) indicating that the same early semantic categories are expressed by young children across languages. A focus is placed on Mandarin through analyses of longitudinal data from CHILDES.

This course is a recorded session from the 2021 ASHA Convention Virtual Library (session 2099V).

This course focuses on intentional communication skills (what the child wants to say, not what the clinician wants the child to say) in children as the base for assessment and intervention. The proposed model for this strength-based perspective is based on the semantic categories described by Bloom & Lahey (1978) and Lahey (1988). Speakers present the Language Content/Form/Use model as a perspective that is less biased than a norm-based deficit model where the child's productions are compared with those of age-peers.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Describe how a criterion-based system focusing on intentional communication skills is a less biased approach for assessment and intervention for children from culturally and linguistically diverse contexts 
• Describe the developmental hierarchy of Language Content, Form and Use (Bloom & Lahey, 1978; Lahey 1988) in general terms 
• Describe the need to further investigate how Language Content is expressed with Language Form across languages and dialects

Presenter Information

Christina Reuterskiöld, PhD, CCC-SLP (Presenting Author), is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at New York University. She is licensed to practice in New York state and in Sweden. Her research focuses on language and literacy skills in children with and without developmental disorders.

Financial Disclosures:

• No financial relationships relevant to the content of the session

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships relevant to the content of the session

Huanhuan Shi, MS (Presenting Author), is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at New York University. She earned her master’s degree in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on syntactic development and word learning in typically developing children and children with language impairment.

Financial Disclosures:

• No financial relationships relevant to the content of the session

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships relevant to the content of the session

Meredith Kincaide (Presenting Author) is an Employment Support Specialist in Disabilities Services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. In 2020, she received the disAbility Leadership Award from the Ohio Diversity Council. As a master's student at New York University, Meredith is studying Communicative Sciences and Disorders.

Financial Disclosures:

• No financial relationships relevant to the content of the session

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships relevant to the content of the session

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete the learning assessment by October 27, 2027.

Program History and CE Information

Content origination date: November 2021
End date: October 27, 2027

This course is offered for 0.1 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).