The Late Talker Response Framework: Measuring change in the way late talking toddlers respond across treatment
Tracks
Concurrent session M1
Early language
Expressive language
Paediatric/Infant
Speech
Therapy
| Monday, May 27, 2024 |
| 3:10 PM - 3:25 PM |
| BelleVue Ballroom 02 |
Overview
Rosemary Hodges and Elise Baker
Details
⏫ Research insights
đź“š Assumed knowledge of attendees: Foundational (new/casual familiarity with the topic e.g. treated a single case)
đź“š Assumed knowledge of attendees: Foundational (new/casual familiarity with the topic e.g. treated a single case)
Presenter
Dr Rosemary Hodges
Clinical Director
Word Stars Speech Pathology
The Late Talker Response Framework: Measuring change in the way late talking toddlers respond across treatment
3:10 PM - 3:25 PMPresentation summary
Background: When late talking toddlers respond during elicited speech tasks, their responses can vary. Some late talkers say nothing, some use gesture, some use simple vocalisations, some use one word/vocal response for many words, and some verbally attempt words but can be difficult to understand. Existing approaches to measuring toddlers’ response to intervention (e.g., number of words spoken) fail to capture these subtle response types. Guided by prior research on late talkers’ responses, we developed the Late Talker Response Framework then applied it to measuring one late talker’s responses over the course of Speech and Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage Intervention for Late Talkers (S-VAULT) treatment.
Method: A late-talking 2-year-old completed twice weekly 30-minute sessions of S-VAULT treatment for 8 weeks. A 24-item single-word probe of treatment and control words was administered at baseline, at the start of each treatment session, then immediately post-treatment. Spontaneous and imitated responses were documented. All responses were categorised and fell into one of nine categories: no-response, gesture, protoword +/-gesture, production of a different word +/-gesture, attempt at probe word +/-gesture, and no opportunity.
Results: The Late Talker Response Framework allowed us to capture and document all responses made during a word elicitation task. For this late talker, responses changed from 100% no-responses (both spontaneous and imitated) during baseline, to a diversity of response types during and after treatment including gesture, other words, and attempts at probe words (e.g., 42% of probe words were verbally imitated after 2 sessions, 50% were attempted spontaneously after 4 sessions, and 62% were attempted spontaneously at the end of treatment).
Conclusion: The Late Talker Response Framework provided insight into a late talker’s therapeutic journey from not responding to increasingly becoming verbal. Research on the Late Talker Response Framework with larger samples, and in clinical contexts is needed.
Method: A late-talking 2-year-old completed twice weekly 30-minute sessions of S-VAULT treatment for 8 weeks. A 24-item single-word probe of treatment and control words was administered at baseline, at the start of each treatment session, then immediately post-treatment. Spontaneous and imitated responses were documented. All responses were categorised and fell into one of nine categories: no-response, gesture, protoword +/-gesture, production of a different word +/-gesture, attempt at probe word +/-gesture, and no opportunity.
Results: The Late Talker Response Framework allowed us to capture and document all responses made during a word elicitation task. For this late talker, responses changed from 100% no-responses (both spontaneous and imitated) during baseline, to a diversity of response types during and after treatment including gesture, other words, and attempts at probe words (e.g., 42% of probe words were verbally imitated after 2 sessions, 50% were attempted spontaneously after 4 sessions, and 62% were attempted spontaneously at the end of treatment).
Conclusion: The Late Talker Response Framework provided insight into a late talker’s therapeutic journey from not responding to increasingly becoming verbal. Research on the Late Talker Response Framework with larger samples, and in clinical contexts is needed.
Key messages
1) Late talkers respond in varied ways when given opportunities to say words
2) Measuring the way a late talker responds across the course of treatment could be one useful outcome measure
3) In the case study presented, the late talker progressed from no verbal responses, to imitated verbal responses, to spontaneous responses across the course of 8-weeks of treatment
2) Measuring the way a late talker responds across the course of treatment could be one useful outcome measure
3) In the case study presented, the late talker progressed from no verbal responses, to imitated verbal responses, to spontaneous responses across the course of 8-weeks of treatment
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Rosie is the clinical director at Word Stars Speech Pathology (WSSP), a private practice in Western Sydney. Rosie has over 10 years clinical experience across a variety of settings including private practice, school-based, and not-for-profit services. In 2016, she completed her PhD at The University of Sydney on the speech and language skills of late talking toddlers. Since then, she has continued to engage in research on developmental and acquired communication disorders in children.
Rosie provides supervision and mentoring at WSSP and works closely with the Managing Director to develop and evaluate services and projects. Clinically, Rosie maintains a small early intervention caseload.
Rosie is passionate about evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence in speech pathology. She regularly provides professional development within the profession via workshops, conferences, and mentoring. She is also a strong advocate for raising awareness of communication difficulties within the community, particularly in early childhood education.
Dr Elise Baker
Associate Professor Allied Health
Western Sydney University, and South Western Sydney Local Health District
The Late Talker Response Framework: Measuring change in the way late talking toddlers respond across treatment
3:10 PM - 3:25 PM**********
Session chair
Shaun Ziegenfusz
Co-CEO| Lecturer
Griffith University | The DLD Project
Student volunteer(s)
Lillian Hennessy-Ellis
Student
Curtin University
Michelle Spillman
Edith Cowan University
The information contained in this program is current at of the time of publishing but is subject to changes made without notice.
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