Generative Language Intervention for Young Children With Down Syndrome Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
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| Title: | Generative Language Intervention for Young Children With Down Syndrome Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A Randomized Controlled Trial. |
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| Authors: | Kent-Walsh, Jennifer1 jkentwalsh@ucf.edu, Harrington, Nancy1, Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie2, Binger, Cathy3 |
| Source: | Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools. Jul2025, Vol. 56 Issue 3, p542-564. 23p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Comparative grammar, *Down syndrome, *Children with disabilities, *Comparative studies, *Vocabulary, *Speech therapy, *Inter-observer reliability, *Language acquisition, Effect sizes (Statistics), Statistical power analysis, Facilitated communication, Research funding, Statistical sampling, Randomized controlled trials, Descriptive statistics, Latent semantic analysis, Intraclass correlation, Parents of children with disabilities, Data analysis software, Video recording, Psychosocial factors |
| Geographic Terms: | United States |
| Abstract: | Purpose: Children with Down syndrome often have poor speech intelligibility, which can mask expressive language competence; this, in turn, can lead to serious misconceptions about overall competence and intellectual abilities. Although aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can be used to bridge these gaps, children with Down syndrome are not always provided with consistent access to focused AAC language intervention supports. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of implementing the AAC Generative Language Intervention (AAC-GLI) approach on the aided expressive grammar productions of young children with Down syndrome. Method: A randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the results. The study included a control group and an intervention group, with the families of both groups participating in half-day AAC implementation workshops and all children receiving AAC devices to use throughout the course of the study. The intervention group also received 4 months of twice-weekly play-based AAC-GLI intervention sessions. Progress was measured using a mean length of utterance (MLU) specially designed for aided communicators (weighted MLU in symbols [W-MLUSym]). Results: Strong effects indicated superior performance on W-MLUSym for the intervention group, despite reduced enrollment and increased attrition yielded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: AAC-GLI can be used to teach young children with Down syndrome to improve their aided expressive grammar skills. Providing AAC language intervention for young children with Down syndrome can be a critical step to support ongoing expressive language development and use as well as overall functional communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 186696952 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Generative Language Intervention for Young Children With Down Syndrome Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A Randomized Controlled Trial. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Kent-Walsh%2C+Jennifer%22">Kent-Walsh, Jennifer</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> jkentwalsh@ucf.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Harrington%2C+Nancy%22">Harrington, Nancy</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hahs-Vaughn%2C+Debbie%22">Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Binger%2C+Cathy%22">Binger, Cathy</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Language%2C+Speech+%26+Hearing+Services+in+Schools%22">Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools</searchLink>. Jul2025, Vol. 56 Issue 3, p542-564. 23p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+grammar%22">Comparative grammar</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Down+syndrome%22">Down syndrome</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children+with+disabilities%22">Children with disabilities</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Comparative+studies%22">Comparative studies</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Vocabulary%22">Vocabulary</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Speech+therapy%22">Speech therapy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Inter-observer+reliability%22">Inter-observer reliability</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Language+acquisition%22">Language acquisition</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Effect+sizes+%28Statistics%29%22">Effect sizes (Statistics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistical+power+analysis%22">Statistical power analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Facilitated+communication%22">Facilitated communication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Research+funding%22">Research funding</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Statistical+sampling%22">Statistical sampling</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Randomized+controlled+trials%22">Randomized controlled trials</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Latent+semantic+analysis%22">Latent semantic analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intraclass+correlation%22">Intraclass correlation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parents+of+children+with+disabilities%22">Parents of children with disabilities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+analysis+software%22">Data analysis software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Video+recording%22">Video recording</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Psychosocial+factors%22">Psychosocial factors</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States%22">United States</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Purpose: Children with Down syndrome often have poor speech intelligibility, which can mask expressive language competence; this, in turn, can lead to serious misconceptions about overall competence and intellectual abilities. Although aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) can be used to bridge these gaps, children with Down syndrome are not always provided with consistent access to focused AAC language intervention supports. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the effect of implementing the AAC Generative Language Intervention (AAC-GLI) approach on the aided expressive grammar productions of young children with Down syndrome. Method: A randomized controlled trial was used to evaluate the results. The study included a control group and an intervention group, with the families of both groups participating in half-day AAC implementation workshops and all children receiving AAC devices to use throughout the course of the study. The intervention group also received 4 months of twice-weekly play-based AAC-GLI intervention sessions. Progress was measured using a mean length of utterance (MLU) specially designed for aided communicators (weighted MLU in symbols [W-MLUSym]). Results: Strong effects indicated superior performance on W-MLUSym for the intervention group, despite reduced enrollment and increased attrition yielded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: AAC-GLI can be used to teach young children with Down syndrome to improve their aided expressive grammar skills. Providing AAC language intervention for young children with Down syndrome can be a critical step to support ongoing expressive language development and use as well as overall functional communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1044/2025_LSHSS-24-00117 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 23 StartPage: 542 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Comparative grammar Type: general – SubjectFull: Down syndrome Type: general – SubjectFull: Children with disabilities Type: general – SubjectFull: Comparative studies Type: general – SubjectFull: Vocabulary Type: general – SubjectFull: Speech therapy Type: general – SubjectFull: Inter-observer reliability Type: general – SubjectFull: Language acquisition Type: general – SubjectFull: Effect sizes (Statistics) Type: general – SubjectFull: Statistical power analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Facilitated communication Type: general – SubjectFull: Research funding Type: general – SubjectFull: Statistical sampling Type: general – SubjectFull: Randomized controlled trials Type: general – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics Type: general – SubjectFull: Latent semantic analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Intraclass correlation Type: general – SubjectFull: Parents of children with disabilities Type: general – SubjectFull: Data analysis software Type: general – SubjectFull: Video recording Type: general – SubjectFull: Psychosocial factors Type: general – SubjectFull: United States Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Generative Language Intervention for Young Children With Down Syndrome Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Kent-Walsh, Jennifer – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Harrington, Nancy – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Binger, Cathy IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 07 Text: Jul2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 01611461 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 56 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Language, Speech & Hearing Services in Schools Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
