Study aims to prevent children’s speech and language disorders before they start

Article Summary:

Speech and language researchers at Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions, together with collaborators at Washington State University, have received a National Institutes of Health grant of almost $1 million to use LENA technology in a study that will try to prevent speech and language problems before they happen. The study will follow 75 children with classic galactosemia, who are at high risk for speech and language delays, and their families over the next four years. The study is designed to test the effectiveness of a new intervention for children with classic galactosemia called Babble Boot Camp (BBC). BBC is implemented by a pediatric speech-language pathologist who meets with parents and children online once a week to teach them routines and activities that foster the communication skills seen in a typical child, such as cooing, babbling and first words. Although the participant group was small, data from the pilot study showed substantial gains for the toddlers with classic galactosemia.