Sterling, Audra Marie PHD

The proposed research is relevant to public health because it contributes to a program of research focused on significantly improving the communication abilities of children with language impairments, specifically children with Down syndrome. There is a lack of research on outcome measures for young children with Down syndrome. This is a critical issue, given the significant advances in pharmacological and behavioral interventions for individuals with Down syndrome; however, it is impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions given the lack of information on appropriate outcome measures.

The proposed research is relevant to public health because it contributes to a program of research focused on significantly improving the communication abilities of children with language impairments, including children with Down syndrome (supplement), children with fragile X syndrome (parent grant) and children with developmental language disorder (DLD; parent grant). The proposed study will track language production and comprehension in school age children, considering the unique impact of one aspect of cognition (executive function). Given the prevalence of DLD (7-13% of school age children), and the significant overlap in the language phenotype between Down syndrome, fragile X and DLD, this project addresses the NIDCD’s mission to improve the lives of individuals with communication disorders.