A Study of Milestones to Advance Language Learning

Pediatrics
Official Title SMALL Talk: Study of Milestones to Advance Language Learning

Purpose

The goal of this study is to identify early risk for developmental language disorder (DLD) among young, low-income children, and to determine how caregiver and child chronic stress and interaction quality interact to disrupt language growth among these children. The long-term objective is to identify pathways through which early family situations and the conditions of poverty disrupt early language paths among low-income children and contribute to heightened rates of DLD.

Could this study be right for you?

Inclusion criteria are:

  • have a child that is 9 months or younger
  • child resides in a low-income household, using some sort of government assistance or using the 200% threshold from the Department of Health and Human Services based on annual household income and number of persons in home

Exclusion criteria:

  • Children who are multiple births, preterm (<35 weeks), and have profound or severe disabilities will be excluded, with the latter including congenital blindness, deafness, Down syndrome, and other frank neurological deficits.