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Research

The Utility of Natural Language Samples for Assessing Communication and Language in Infants Referred with Early Signs of Autism

Natural Language Sampling (NLS) offers clear potential for communication and language assessment, where other data might be difficult to interpret. We leveraged existing primary data for 18-month-olds showing early signs of autism, to examine the reliability and concurrent construct validity of NLS-derived measures coded from video-of child language, parent linguistic input, and dyadic balance of communicative interaction-against standardised assessment scores. Using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software and coding conventions, masked coders achieved good-to-excellent inter-rater agreement across all measures.

Research

Adolescent education outcomes and maltreatment: The role of pre-existing adversity, level of child protection involvement, and school attendance

Maltreated children are at high risk for low educational achievement, however few studies have accounted for confounding risk factors that commonly co-occur (including child, family and neighbourhood risk factors) and results have been mixed, particularly for adolescents.

Research

Influences of bilingual input on English vocabulary size and academic outcomes: a large-scale longitudinal study following children in Australia from five to ten years

Research from large population-based studies investigating the language and academic outcomes for bilingual children is rare. The current study aimed to investigate the influence of dual language exposure on (i) English vocabulary outcomes at 5 years (126 bilinguals, 1675 monolinguals), and 10 years (vocabulary: 92 bilinguals, 1413 monolinguals:), and (ii) academic outcomes at 10 years (107 bilinguals, 1746 monolinguals).

Research

Language Development

Language is one of the most remarkable developmental accomplishments of early childhood. Language connects us with others and is an essential tool for literacy, education, employment and lifelong learning.

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Language, cognitive flexibility, and explicit false belief understanding: Longitudinal analysis in typical development and Specific Language Impairment

The hypothesis that language plays a role in theory-of-mind (ToM) development is supported by a number of lines of evidence.

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Maternal life events during pregnancy and offspring language ability in middle childhood

There is accumulating evidence for a link between maternal stress during pregnancy and later behavioural and emotional problems in children.

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The broader language phenotype of Autism: A comparison with Specific Language Impairment

Some individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience linguistic difficulties similar to those found in individuals with specific language...

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How many words are Australian children hearing in the first year of life?

These results show that a word gap related to maternal education is not apparent up to twelve months of age

Research

Longitudinal study of language and speech of twins at 4 and 6 years: Twinning effects decrease, zygosity effects disappear, and heritability increases

This study investigates the heritability of language, speech, and nonverbal cognitive development of twins at 4 and 6 years of age.