Early Language Development in Infants and Toddlers with Hemato-Oncological Diseases: Preliminary Outcomes of a Shared
Giusy Melcarne1,2, Roberta Maria Incardona1,2,3, Giulia Marangon2,4
1AIL Padova ODV, 35124 Padova, Italy.
Insights
Children with hemato-oncological cancers may experience expressive language delays. Early speech-language interventions, like shared reading, show promise in improving articulation and language production in these vulnerable young patients.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Developmental Psychology
- Speech-Language Pathology
Background:
- Children undergoing cancer treatment face neurodevelopmental risks, especially in early years.
- Pediatric hemato-oncology patients require intensive care, increasing vulnerability to developmental impairments.
- Early life exposure to cancer treatment impacts neurodevelopmental domains.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess early language skills in children under 36 months in a pediatric hemato-oncology unit.
- To explore changes in language performance over time and the impact of a shared reading intervention.
- To investigate linguistic differences based on gender and cancer type (liquid vs. solid).
Main Methods:
- A pilot study involving 29 children aged 2-36 months.
- Linguistic assessments included lexical development, morphosyntax, articulation, and cognitive functioning.
- Intervention comprised shared reading sessions and parental counseling, with follow-up evaluations.
Main Results:
- Lexical comprehension surpassed production (p < 0.001); males showed lower lexical comprehension than females (p = 0.048).
- Children with solid tumors had better articulation (p = 0.018) and a trend for higher morphosyntax than those with hematologic malignancies.
- Six months of shared reading intervention suggested improvements in articulation, lexical production, and morphosyntax (all p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
- Children in pediatric hemato-oncology settings are at risk for expressive language difficulties.
- Shared reading interventions show potential for early language stimulation in this population.
- Further research with larger samples and controlled designs is necessary to confirm effectiveness.
Introduction:
Children diagnosed with hemato-oncological cancers need intensive medical treatments and prolonged hospitalizations, which are associated with increased risk of impairment across multiple neurodevelopmental domains, particularly when exposure occurs within the first three years of life.
Objective:
This pilot study aimed to explore early language performance in children under 36 months of age hospitalized in a pediatric hemato-oncology unit and to preliminarily investigate changes over time and potential associations with an early speech-language stimulation intervention based on shared reading. Specifically, the study investigated differences between language comprehension and production, as well as variations in linguistic outcomes according to gender and pathology type (liquid vs. solid).
Methods:
The study employed a sample of 29 children aged 2 to 36 months (M = 20.76, SD = 9.52). Baseline linguistic assessment was conducted using observational measures across multiple language domains, including lexical development (PinG), morphosyntactic abilities (PCGO, GALS), and articulatory skills (BAMF), together with an evaluation of general cognitive functioning (Griffiths). The intervention consisted of in-person shared reading sessions combined with concurrent parental counseling. Exploratory analyses were performed to examine changes over time and group-related differences.
Results:
Among the sample, lexical comprehension exceeded production (p < 0.001). Sex differences emerged only for lexical comprehension, with males performing worse than females (p = 0.048). Comparisons by diagnosis showed that children with solid tumors had significantly better articulation than those with hematologic malignancies (p = 0.018), with a trend toward higher morphosyntactic production. Longitudinal analyses on 13 children re-evaluated after six months of weekly shared reading intervention showed potential improvements in articulation, lexical production, and morphosyntactic production (all p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
These preliminary findings suggest that children in pediatric hemato-oncology settings may be vulnerable to expressive language difficulties. Shared reading interventions may represent a promising supportive approach for early language stimulation; however, further studies with larger samples and controlled designs are needed to better understand their potential contribution and effectiveness.
