Speech-Language Pathologists' Responsivity During School-Based Therapy.

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Child language development
• Educational psychology

Background:

• Verbal responsivity in speech-language pathology (SLP) is crucial for effective therapy.
• Understanding SLP responsivity patterns in school settings is essential for improving intervention outcomes.
• Previous research has not fully elucidated the relationship between SLP responsivity and child language gains.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') verbal responsivity during school-based therapy sessions.
• To examine the relationship between SLP responsivity and children's initial language skills and their verbal output during sessions.
• To investigate the association between SLP responsivity and children's language development over an academic year.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of 26 transcribed, one-on-one school-based speech-language therapy sessions.
• Involved certified SLPs and children with developmental language disorder in the United States.
• Manual coding of therapy transcripts to categorize SLP verbal responses.

Main Results:

• SLP responsivity (recasts, expansions) constituted less than 9% of temporally contingent utterances.
• Lower initial child language skill and less child talk were negatively correlated with SLP responsivity.
• SLP responsivity was not associated with children's language gains over the school year.

Conclusions:

• SLP responsivity is low in school-based therapy, indicating a need for training and support.
• SLPs may be more responsive to children with lower language skills, potentially increasing linguistic stimulation.
• Findings highlight the need for further research into optimizing SLP responsivity for improved child language outcomes.