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Developmental Language Disorder: Key Characteristics and Variability (On Demand Webinar) (PD102869)
Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) can demonstrate a range of characteristics and challenges, which can appear not only in their language abilities but also in their cognitive and motor abilities. This webinar will give SLPs a deeper understanding of the common characteristics associated with DLD as well as individual differences among children with the disorder. The webinar will share examples of how to tailor vocabulary and reading interventions for children with DLD.
Learning
Outcomes
You will
be able to:
- List the strengths and weaknesses within each key area of language (and related cognitive/motor areas) for a child on your caseload
- Apply your understanding of the characteristics of a child with DLD to modify a treatment goal/strategy/approach for a child on your caseload
- Conduct a conversation with the parent/caregiver of a child with DLD to explain the characteristics of the disorder specific to their child
Contents
- Defining DLD in broad terms
- How individual profiles of children with DLD could differ
- Differences between children with DLD and those with typically developing language abilities (phonology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics, and spoken and written language)
- Differences between children with DLD and those with typically developing language abilities in cognitive/motor areas (working memory, motor skills, executive function, attention, and risks for emotional health)
- Case studies illustrating strengths/weaknesses of children with DLD
- How an understanding of the DLD profile could be applied to vocabulary and reading interventions
Presenter Information
Hope Sparks Lancaster, PhD (she/her/hers) is research scientist at Boys Town National Research Hospital. She is leader of the Etiologies of Language and Literacy Lab. Her research examines the genetic and behavioral commonalities between speech sound disorders, developmental language disorder, and dyslexia.
Financial Disclosures:
- Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
- Salary from Boys Town National Research Hospital
Nonfinancial Disclosures:
- None
Katherine Gordon, PhD (she/her/hers) completed her doctoral work at the University of Minnesota in child psychology, focusing on language development and word learning in preschool-age children. She completed her postdoctoral work at the University of Iowa, focusing on word learning in children with developmental language disorder. During her postdoctoral work, she became interested in how memory processes, both short-term and long-term memory, affect word learning. She is currently a research scientist at Boys Town National Research Hospital. In her laboratory, she is focused on two key areas of interest. The first is to identify effective and efficient clinical treatment approaches for children with DLD to both learn and remember school-based words (i.e., words with abstract meanings). Specifically, she is interested in treatment approaches that foster the best post-training retention of words learned. In her second line of research, she focuses on how background noise in classroom spaces affects word learning and language processing in children with typical development and DLD. Her overall goal is to inform clinical and educational practices that foster both learning and long-term retention of taught language input.
Financial Disclosures:
- Salary from Boys Town National Research Hospital
Nonfinancial Disclosures:
- None
Ron Pomper, PhD, is a postdoctoral research fellow working with Karla McGregor in the Word Learning Lab at Boys Town National Research Hospital. Pomper studies how children learn language, including children with typical language development, developmental language disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. Pomper uses behavioral responses, eye-tracking, and neuroimaging methods to measure different aspects of children’s ability to learn new words. Pomper's recent work investigates how children form detailed representations of the sounds that form words.
Financial Disclosures:
- NIH stipend for postdoctoral grant
Nonfinancial Disclosures:
- None
Allyssa LaRose, MS, CCC-SLP (she/her/hers) is a school-based and medical speech-language pathologist. She works with birth through adult populations with a variety of diagnoses but specializes in language and literacy disorders as well as behavior management. Allyssa was awarded ASHA's Distinguished Early Career Professional Certificate in 2022, recently graduated from ASHA's Leadership Development Program in February 2024, and is pursuing Board Certification in Childhood Language and Language Disorders. She is currently employed with Boys Town National Research Hospital, working in their school programs serving K-12, inpatient units, and outpatient clinics, and consults on various teams within the organization.
Financial Disclosures:
- Salary from Boys Town National Research Hospital
Nonfinancial Disclosures:
- ASHA member
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 and submit the learning assessment by the end date below.
Program History and CE Information
Content origination date: April 30, 2024
End date: April 18, 2029
This course is offered for 0.2 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Professional area).