PAEDIATRIC LANGUAGE, LEARNING, & SPEECH OUTCOMES LAB
WHAT WE DO
The PedLLS Outcomes Lab engages in collaborative research regarding child language development and disorders. We apply theory to practice for the design and implementation of clinical research projects. Our goal is to expand the best practice evidence on outcomes that supports the worth of speech-language intervention for at-risk preschoolers.
We travel to Jamaica annually to gather data at local preschools. While there, student researchers conduct a variety of assessments, such as the Primary Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (PTONI), with the children. We are working to determine which assessments can be used with multilingual populations to reduce the misdiagnosis of speech sound disorders.
Jamaica Project
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Using Drawings to Understand Jamaican Children’s Talking Experiences
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Characterizing Grammar Profiles Using Child and Adult Models
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Using Acoustic Methods to Characterize Speech Productions
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Intelligibility in Context Scale as an Assessment Tool
Neuroimaging Techniques
Using neuroimaging and behavioural methods, we aim to understand the complex memory-language mechanisms involved in grammar learning and impairments. We also explore treatment-related changes in late talkers (LT) and preschoolers with Developmental Language Disorders (DLD).
Multilingual Speech & Language
​We include adults from the child's linguistic and cultural community to offer "anchors" regarding production accuracy and variation. For example, where an English speaker may say ‘leg’, a Jamaican Creole speaker may accurately use many different words!
Acoustic Methods
We aim to build models of speech sound productions for multilingual populations to help improve diagnostic accuracy of speech sound disorders
Culturally Responsive Tools
​We address the need for research-based screening tools for understudied multilingual populations. For example, we investigated the clinical utility of the Jamaica Creole translation of the Intelligibility in Context Scale (McLeod et al., 2012) for Jamaican Creole and English speaking preschoolers.
Arts-Based Methods
​We explore the talking experiences of young children who speak more than one language on a daily basis through their drawings, along with their own interpretation of their drawings.
