Academic Outcomes in Children with Speech and Language Disorders

Researchers in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences (SHS) Cab Lab aim to improve the efficacy and efficiency of speech therapy interventions in schools.

Developing language and literacy skills is key to children’s academic success and long-term life outcomes. By studying the relationship between speech and language disorders and reading difficulty in school-age children, they can identify children at risk of reading difficulty and improve practical interventions and outcomes.

Communication Disorders and Literacy Acquisition 

Speech and language disorders such as dyslexia can impact students’ acquisition of reading and writing skills, negatively affecting their academic outcomes. SHS researchers study the effects of communication disorders on academic outcomes by following the progress of children who receive speech therapy at school.

Employing speech and reading assessments as well as child-friendly computer-based activities for speech perception and production, they can track students’ longitudinal progress throughout the school year and assess the efficacy of speech therapy interventions.  

SHS researchers collaborate with the Spokane Public Schools as well as scholars and school systems in other states. While most studies on speech and language disorders are conducted in a lab setting, our researchers assess student progress in a school setting, which improves the external validity of the research and allows researchers to work directly with school-based speech therapists who provide services to children with communication disorders.  

Supporting School-Based Speech Therapists

One major challenge is translating research about communication disorders into practice, given that lab settings often do not reflect the real-word contexts where speech therapy is delivered. SHS researchers work directly with school-based speech therapists in order to better understand their needs and practices and to improve the efficacy and efficiency of interventions for children.

The researchers aim to understand what interventions are feasible in an under-resourced setting, where speech therapists often work with groups of students rather than individuals and for short periods of time around other instruction and scheduling needs, and to optimize the impact of their interventions.  

Another challenge is determining when students no longer need speech therapy services, a decision too often made based on caseload size and resource limitations. SHS researchers are working with speech therapists and students receiving speech therapy to develop an evidence-based standard for determining when they no longer need therapy.

One innovative aspect of this research is examining students’ self-identified need and motivation for speech therapy, which can be important determinants in its efficacy. By identifying practical, effective, and efficient interventions for speech and language disorders, researchers can support school-based speech therapists and enable students to communicate effectively and succeed academically as well as socially.