Caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental conditions often experience poor mental wellbeing, which may be influenced by their child’s behavioural or communicative profile. Few studies have focussed exclusively on caregivers of minimally verbal (MV) children—a heterogeneous group who share limited access to spoken language but vary in communicative competence and primary diagnosis. In this population, caregiver wellbeing may be associated with a child’s ability to communicate their wants and needs via any modality. We examined associations between child communicative competence and caregiver wellbeing in a transdiagnostic sample of school-age MV children (n = 193, mean age 7.6-years, 73

Communication and language profiles in neurodevelopmental conditions are characterised by enormous phenotypic heterogeneity. We sought to identify subgroups of Minimally Verbal (MV) children in a school-age transdiagnostic sample. We hypothesised that a cluster with a discrepant profile (strong receptive but low speech production and expressive spoken language skills) would emerge. We recruited MV children and their families (n = 193; mean age 7.6 years (sd: 2.5, range 4–13); 73

In a purely meritocratic society educational outcomes would reflect ability, and only ability. Vocabulary size is a common measure of cognitive ability that predicts educational outcomes but is confounded with socioeconomic circumstances (SEC). Methods. In preregistered analyses of the nationally representative UK Millennium Cohort Study data (N=15,576), we used a series of multiple linear and logistic regression analyses to investigate the predictive value of age-5 vocabulary for age-16 educational outcomes and assess whether socioeconomic circumstance moderated this relation. Results. We show that age-5 vocabulary strongly predicted age-16 educational attainment, even after adjusting for both SEC and caregiver vocabulary (OR = 1.62, 95% CIs = [1.52;1.72]; ( = .22, 95% CIs = [.19;.24]). However, the weight of evidence for the effect was lower than that for the effect of SEC (i.e., SEC was found to have better predictive value. Further, a larger vocabulary was most advantageous for those in middle SEC groups (interaction term OR 1.09 [1.03; 1.15). Conclusions. This demonstrates that even children who enter school with relatively strong language skills are not that likely to gain gateway qualifications if they experience socio-economic disadvantage. Early language interventions may help children to access education but cannot by themselves be expected to counteract the effect of social inequality on life chances.

We developed the Early Deception Survey (EDS) to create an early deception taxonomy and measure. Study 1, which was exploratory, found N = 130 parents reported children engaged in 16 deception types before 47 months, with the earliest report at 8 months. Deception was frequent, typically produced within 1 day of parents completing the survey, and understood within 1 day. Parents' deceptions towards children positively correlated with children's deception understanding; and parents' deception encouragement positively correlated with children's deception production and understanding (although most parents did not report encouraging deception). Studies 2 (N = 167) and 3 (N = 382) found the 16-item EDS was unidimensional with good internal reliability for 10- to 47-month-olds. While Study 4 (N = 85) found the EDS was unrelated to deception lab tasks, Study 5 found convergent validity (N = 610), but not predictive (N = 203) validity with the Early Social Cognition Inventory, and good longitudinal stability (N = 203). While parent agreement (N = 28) was strong, parent-Early Years Educator agreement (N = 10) was poor. Furthermore, based on our sample, 25 % of children were predicted to engage in at least one deception type by 10 months, 50 % by 16 months, 75 % by 24 months; and 97.5 % by 38 months. We found only one demographic difference in how parents answered individual items, and found less educated and younger parents reported higher EDS scores.

Abstract UB approaches have recently expanded to investigate the active role language learners have in unfolding conversations while using language to do things together ( Behrens & Pfänder, 2022 , p. 231). In this chapter, I will expand on this notion further from a pragmatic point of view, defined by Behrens (2009) as the relation between language forms and their functions with respect to language users as opposed to the world they are talking about (semantics). We will review how children’s language develops once they have surmounted the hurdles of prelinguistic development, and of learning words and early sentence structures, so that we find them able to string sentences together. At this point, managing topics extended in time relies on pragmatic skills that allow us to choose linguistic forms in harmony with our human cognitive systems — limited memory spans, fluctuating attentional states, and models of the world, the other, and the discourse — so that we can find joint purpose through communication. Here, cognitive-conceptual development and language development go hand in hand.

BACKGROUND:Parent-child interaction (PCI) interventions have the potential to mitigate early-identified risks of Speech, Language and Communication Needs (SLCN). PCI interventions can be delivered at Universal, Targeted and Specialist levels, but evidence for effectiveness at the Universal level is lacking, especially for some populations. We examine the acceptability of a universal PCI intervention for two underserved groups: children who have SLCN and/or are multilingual. For the former group we also explore acceptability of a supplementary, targeted intervention. AIM:This study aimed to: (a) evaluate the acceptability of a digital early years PCI support service-comprising a universal text-message service delivering BBC Tiny Happy People videos and targeted speech and language therapy following the Early Language Identification Measure & Intervention (ELIM-I); (b) establish the interest of families with children who have, or are at risk of, SLCN (N = 61) and/or are multilingual (N = 26) in utilising the service, and explore their perceptions regarding merits and drawbacks of the service, and elicit recommendations for improvements. METHODS & PROCEDURES:We employed a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected via questionnaires based on the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured online interviews. Families of children with SLCN provided prospective acceptability data after reviewing three videos, indicating their view of receiving similar weekly video content via text message. Those who then opted to try the text service for a month provided retrospective acceptability data, with additional questions for participants who received the targeted online ELIM-I intervention. Multilingual families received the service for three months before providing retrospective acceptability data. OUTCOMES & RESULTS:Quantitative analyses revealed that all acceptability ratings were high on average, though there was individual variability. Reflexive thematic analysis of caregivers' qualitative data identified three central themes: (a) demand for trustworthy guidance to address uncertainty; (b) positives including service suitability for busy family life, personalisation, human connection and reassurance, enjoyment and perceived efficacy; (c) a need for inclusive content, especially for children with complex SLCN. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS:There is a clear desire for early digital services to help caregivers support their children's language development. Acceptability was generally high. Caregivers wanted to see their family represented in video content. This was largely successful for the multilingual group with content celebrating home languages. Caregivers of children with SLCN sometimes felt under-represented and recommended demonstrating support strategies appropriate for their child's age and stage of development. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS:What is already known on this subject PCI interventions have the potential to mitigate the risk of SLCN from the early years. There has been interest in creating digital interventions that can reach families universally at low cost and BBC Tiny Happy People have developed video content along these lines. However, previous evaluations of digital services using BBC Tiny Happy People materials, have excluded multilingual families and families who have children with/at risk of SLCN. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study highlights that a digital support service comprising universal weekly text messages sharing BBC Tiny Happy People video content and targeted online ELIM-I intervention is acceptable and desirable to families whose children have SLCN and/or are multilingual. Caregivers highlighted necessary changes to cater for diversity, particularly the need for appropriate content for families whose children have SLCN. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this study? Findings support the use of a public health framework to provide families with accessible and evidence-based support (in this case, a universal digital service to promote PCI in the early years with an additional, targeted ELIM-I intervention for those with SLCN). This could remove pressure from in-person services by preventing need, supporting triaging, enabling families to support their child whilst waiting for speech and language therapy and to be more ready for specialist intervention if this is needed. Selecting content that best matches families' characteristics increases acceptability. PRACTITIONER POINTS:1. Digital Services are Acceptable as an Initial Layer of Intervention Caregivers rated the digital language support service highly. They felt that it addressed their curiosity and concern about their child's development and that its benefits persisted regardless of whether caregivers were accessing other support. This indicates that a digital, universal service can function as an effective initial layer of intervention, providing support to individuals on waiting lists and contributing to the management of speech and language therapy caseloads. 2. Inclusive and Diverse Content is Essential to Avoid Caregiver Distress and Harm Content that is representative of family diversity is essential in universal digital language support services. Caregiver feedback highlighted the profound impact of representation: a multilingual family articulated feeling 'connected with the people' when presented with relevant content. Conversely, a perceived lack of content reflective of complex needs was associated with participant distress and reduced engagement or withdrawal from the service. These experiences highlight an ethical responsibility to develop inclusive and representative content that reflects a wide range of developmental trajectories, family structures and cultures. 3. The Speech and Language Therapist's Pivotal Role in Personalising Universal Digital Services The study demonstrated that the human element of the service, such as personalised messages and text message and phone or video call interaction, was highly valued by caregivers. This human connection helped offset the limitations of a universal digital service, providing the opportunity to clarify misunderstandings and a sense of being listened to and understood. This finding indicates that a successful digital service is not about replacing human interaction; it is about using digital platforms to complement and extend the reach of their professional role.

In a purely meritocratic society, educational outcomes would reflect ability and only ability. Vocabulary size is a common measure of cognitive ability that predicts educational outcomes but is confounded with socioeconomic circumstances (SEC). In preregistered analyses of the nationally representative UK Millennium Cohort Study data ( N  = 15,576), we used a series of multiple linear and logistic regression analyses to investigate the predictive value of age-5 vocabulary for age-16 educational outcomes and assess whether socioeconomic circumstance moderated this relation. We show that age-5 vocabulary strongly predicted age-16 educational attainment, even after adjusting for both SEC and caregiver vocabulary (OR = 1.62, 95% CIs = [1.52; 1.72]; β  = .22, 95% CIs = [0.19; 0.24]). SEC also predicts educational attainment (OR = 2.05, 95% CIs = [1.92; 2.19]), and modifies the association between vocabulary and educational attainment, whereby a larger vocabulary was most advantageous for those in middle SEC groups (interaction term OR = 1.09 [1.03; 1.15]). Early child vocabulary is a strong predictor of children's educational outcomes – even when controlling for proxy measures of the home environment and genetics. Nonetheless, children who enter school with strong vocabulary skills but disadvantaged socioeconomic circumstances still have only about a 50/50 chance of gaining gateway qualifications at age 16.

Early mathematical skills lay an important foundation for later academic success. Substantial variation in mathematical skills can be observed in young children, and these differences have been related to family socioeconomic circumstances (SEC). The type and frequency with which parents engage in home mathematical activities (HMAs) with their children have been suggested as a key mechanism explaining inequalities in early mathematical skills; they may also be a potential target to narrow attainment gaps. However, evidence for the relation between HMAs and mathematical skills, and whether there is an SEC gradient in HMA engagement, remains mixed. In the present preregistered study, we conducted harmonization and latent profile analyses on nine U.K.-based data sets, containing n = 969 dyads: mean child age = 46.83 (SD = 5.41) months; child age range = 35-69 months. These analyses identified three profiles based on the frequency of engaging in HMAs (i.e., low, intermediate, high). Children in the high HMA category had significantly higher mathematical skills than those in the intermediate and low categories. While SEC correlated with mathematical skills, no SEC differences were found in engagement with HMAs. This suggests that families that engage in a higher frequency of HMAs have children that tend to have higher mathematical skills, but SEC does not predict engagement with HMAs. We discuss the implications of these findings for narrowing early attainment gaps and how to best measure and capture the home mathematical learning environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Advanced pragmatic skills are hypothesized to depend on early experience of interaction. However, we do not yet fully understand the causal pathways involved. In the current study, we explored one potential early learning mechanism by assessing whether increasing caregiver responsiveness to infant communication in turn promotes infants' pre-linguistic communicative acts. In the first wave of a larger randomized controlled trial study, when their infants were around six months old, carers were randomly assigned to either a communication intervention or an active control intervention focused on physical health. When infants turned 12 months, home videos (N = 125, 64 active control intervention, 61 communication intervention) were analysed for infant pre-linguistic acts, and caregiver responses to infant pre-linguistic communication. We also examined whether these variables varied by socio-economic circumstances. Pre-registered analyses indicated that the intervention led to increases in infant communicative acts and caregiver semantically contingent responses to infant communicative behaviours. This indicates that the experience of communicating with a responsive caregiver has a causal effect on the development of the infant's pre-linguistic pragmatic skills that are thought to provide the basis for later language, pragmatics and Theory of Mind.This article is part of the theme issue 'At the heart of human communication: new views on the complex relationship between pragmatics and Theory of Mind'.

Early mathematical skills lay an important foundation for later academic success.Substantial variation in mathematical skills can be observed in young children andthese differences have been related to family socioeconomic circumstances (SEC).The type and frequency with which parents engage in home mathematical activities(HMA’s) with their children has been suggested as a key mechanism explaininginequalities in early mathematical skills, they may also be a potential target to narrowattainment gaps. However, evidence for the relation between HMA’s and mathematicalskills, and whether there is an SEC gradient in HMA engagement, remains mixed. Inthe present, pre-registered study, we conducted harmonisation and latent profileanalyses on nine UK-based datasets (containing n= 969 dyads; mean child age=46.83(SD= 5.41) months; child age range 35-69 months). These analyses identifiedthree profiles based on the frequency of engaging in HMA’s (i.e., low, intermediate,high). Children in the high HMA category had significantly higher mathematical skillsthan those in the intermediate and low categories. While SEC correlated withmathematical skills, no SEC differences were found in engagement with HMA’s. Thissuggests that families that engage in a higher frequency of HMA’s have children thattend to have higher mathematical skills, but SEC does not predict engagement withHMA’s. We discuss the implications of these findings for narrowing early attainmentgaps and how to best measure and capture the home mathematical learningenvironment.

For decades, studies have reported social inequalities in child language ability and policy makers have sought interventions to address them. Yet inequalities persist. To make better targeted progress, we need to determine precisely which aspects of Socio-Economic Circumstances (SEC - caregiver education, household income, wealth, occupational status or neighbourhood deprivation) best predict language ability and whether this is stable over developmental and historical time. We addressed these questions using large, nationally representative longitudinal datasets for two generations born 30 years apart. Substantial individual differences in child and adolescent vocabulary are explained by multiple indicators each making a unique contribution, most notably caregiver education, income and occupational status. Each step up in these measures predicts a concomitant step up in vocabulary. While inequalities are generally stable over developmental and historical time, contemporary data suggests a need to focus on widening inequalities both at the start and the end of formal schooling.

Keeping a conversation going is the social glue of friendships. The DSM criteria for autism list difficulties with back-and-forth conversation but does not necessitate that all autistic children will be equally impacted. We carried out three studies (two pre-registered) with verbally fluent school children (age 5-9 years) to investigate how autistic and neurotypical children maintain a conversation topic. We also investigated within-group relationships between conversational ability and cognitive and sociocognitive predictors. Study 1 found autistic children were more likely than neurotypical controls to give off-topic and generic minimal responses (e.g. 'mm', 'oh') and were less likely to give non-verbal responses (e.g. nodding or use of facial affect to respond). Nonetheless, the autistic group provided topic-supporting responses 62% of the time, indicating some aspects of conversation topic maintenance are a relative strength. Studies 2 and 3 found large individual differences in topic-supporting conversational responding among both neurotypical and autistic children. These were positively related to theory of mind ability and age in both groups. Conversational skills lie on a continuum for the general population and differences by diagnostic group are a matter of degree. Given the importance for peer relationships, we suggest a whole classroom approach to supporting conversation skills in all children.Lay abstract Children who struggle to maintain conversation with peers often have fewer friends and lower popularity ratings, which can affect wellbeing. Verbal social communication more broadly is linked to both behavioural difficulties and emotional problems. We carried out three studies to examine children's ability to provide responses which keep a back and forth conversation going. The first study found that while autistic children had on average greater difficulties than their neurotypical peers with certain aspects of conversation topic maintenance, for other aspects the autistic group showed considerable strengths. Both studies 2 (neurotypical children) and 3 (autistic children) found relationships between, on the one hand, conversational ability, and on the other, the ability to consider another's viewpoint and the ability to maintain and update information in short term memory. We suggest support for social conversation skills should be part of mainstream classroom curricula for autistic and neurotypical children alike.

Individual differences in children's social communication have been shown to mediate the relationship between poor vocabulary or grammar and behavioural difficulties. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that social communication skills predict difficulties with peers over and above vocabulary and grammar scores. The essential social communicative skills needed to maintain positive peer relationships revolve around conversation. Children with weaker conversation skills are less likely to make and maintain friendships. While helping all children to participate actively in collaborative conversations is part of school curricula, evidence-based training on how to achieve this is rarely provided for teachers. In this review, we first provide an overview of the key components of conversation skills and the cognitive abilities required to maintain them. We then present a narrative review of randomised controlled trials and experimental studies that either trained child conversation skills or included conversation skills in both training and outcome measures. Most of the studies focussed on training conversational ability in autistic children. The general finding was that verbally fluent autistic children improve following conversation training on blind-assessed reciprocal conversational ability. Only two studies were found that trained conversation skills in typically developing children with adequate controls and outcome measures, which directly assessed conversational proficiency. Both studies focussed on typically developing children who, at baseline, were in the weaker third of the mainstream classroom. Importantly, training not only improved the conversational ability of these children, it also improved their rates of lunchtime interaction with peers and their peer popularity ratings. We argue that there is considerable potential for supporting conversation skills in the classroom as a universal or Tier 1 intervention. Future research should explore whether conversation skills training would benefit the whole classroom.

Background The association between school and home is fundamental to sustainable education: parents’ understanding of the school’s priorities and teachers’ understanding of their pupils’ home environment are both vital for children to remain in school and succeed academically. The relationship between parents and teachers is closest in preschool settings, providing a valuable opportunity to build bridges between home and school. In this protocol paper, we outline our planned methods for identifying beneficial home and school behaviors. Objective Our project aims to identify culture-specific structures and behaviors in home and school settings, which influence the quantity and quality of child-directed speech and identify positive experiences that can help improve children’s linguistic development and nutrition. Methods Using a mixed methods approach and focusing on early language learning, nutrition, and responsive caregiving, we will video-record and analyze mealtime language and eating behaviors at home and in school, targeting 80 preschool children and their families in rural Kenya and Zambia. In addition, we will assess children’s language skills through audio recordings and use questionnaire-based interviews to collect extensive sociodemographic and dietary data. Results Between the start of our project in January 2020 and the end of December 2021, we had collected complete sets of sociodemographic, observational, and food recall data for 40 children in Kenya and 16 children in Zambia. By the end of May 2022, we had started data collection for an additional 24 children in Zambia and transcribed and coded approximately 85% of the data. By the end of September, 2022, we plan to complete data collection, transcription, and coding for the entire sample of 80 children across both countries. From September 2022 onwards, we will focus on analyzing our language data, and we hope to have results ready for publication in early 2023. By relating children’s language outcomes and nutritional intake to the observed mealtime behaviors, we hope to identify practices that increase the quantity and quality of child-directed speech and improve children’s nutritional intake. Conclusions Good nutrition and the promotion of language learning are key issues in early childhood development. By using a cross-cultural approach, combining a variety of methods, and working closely with stakeholders and policy makers throughout the project, we hope to find and share best practices for improving children’s linguistic outcomes and nutrition and lay the foundation for the development of practitioner networks and parent outreach programs. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/36925

When in conversation, a child may respond to an adult’s turn in different ways: by saying something that acknowledges what was previously said, saying something that furthers the topic of the conversation, saying something off topic, or by not saying anything at all. Different types of responses like these have been investigated with typically developing preschoolers and older children with autism but we still understand relatively little about what predicts their use. With a longitudinal sample of 40 Swedish-speaking five-year-olds, we carried out three studies investigating which factors, internal and external to the child, were the best predictors of the above four different aspects of children’s conversational behaviour. In Study 1, we investigated the predictive value of broadly concurrent linguistic and cognitive measures and found that receptive vocabulary was related to appropriate conversation responses. In Study 2, we investigated the predictive value of environmental factors and found that later preschool entry was positively related to contingent responses in this relatively socially advantaged sample. Finally, in Study 3, we investigated the predictive value of social and cognitive factors measured in early development and found no reliable relations. Together, these exploratory studies suggest that different aspects of children’s conversational skills may depend on strong lexical comprehension and may be facilitated by the caregiving environment.

Infant–parent interaction forms the foundation for language learning. For the majority of deaf infants, hearing loss can impact access to, and the quality of communicative interactions, placing language development at risk. Support for families to meet the challenges faced during interaction is highly variable in the United Kingdom. In a step towards more standardized but tailorable family support, we co-produced an instructional, video-based intervention, testing for feasibility in terms of behavior change in seven communicative strategies and acceptability with 9 parents, forming study 1. Parents increased their use of the majority of behaviors and found content and delivery acceptable. However, further development was required to: (a) support use of semantically contingent talk and attention getting strategies to elicit infant attention, and (b) ensure the information was provided in a bite-size format that could be tailored to individual families. In study 2, the intervention was refined based on findings from study 1 and assessed for acceptability with 9 parents and 17 professionals, who reported similar high acceptability scores. Final refinements and modifications could be addressed in future interventions. The current studies provide a positive early step towards a standardized intervention to support communication that could be used in routine practice.

If a child asks a friend to play football and the friend replies, 'I have a cough', the requesting child must make a 'relevance inference' to determine the communicative intent. Relevance inferencing is a key component of pragmatics, that is, the ability to integrate social context into language interpretation and use. We tested which cognitive skills relate to relevance inferencing. In addition, we asked whether children's lab-based pragmatic performance relates to children's parent-assessed pragmatic language skills. We tested 3.5- to 4-year-old speakers of British English (Study 1: N = 40, Study 2: N = 32). Children were presented with video-recorded vignettes ending with an utterance requiring a relevance inference, for which children made a forced choice. Study 1 measured children's Theory of Mind, their sentence comprehension and their real-world knowledge and found that only real-world knowledge retained significance in a regression analysis with children's relevance inferencing as the outcome variable. Study 2 then manipulated children's world-knowledge through priming but found this did not improve children's performance on the relevance inferencing task. Study 2 did, however, reveal a significant correlation between children's relevance inferencing and a measure of morpho-syntactic production. In both studies parents rated their children's pragmatic language usage in daily life, which was found to relate to performance in our lab-based relevance inferencing task. This set of studies is the first to empirically demonstrate that lab-based measures of relevance inferencing are reflective of children's pragmatic abilities 'in the wild'. There was no clear association between relevance inferencing and Theory of Mind. There was mixed evidence for the role of formal language, which should be further investigated. Finally, real-world knowledge was indeed associated with relevance inferencing but future experimental work is required to test causal relations.

Despite the advances in technology and sign language awareness, many Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children have language delays as a consequence of difficulty accessing a language model. These delays are often particularly pronounced in the domain of pragmatics, where the language user takes into account the people they are communicating with and their shared access to current context. This review considers the effect childhood deafness can have on pragmatic development, reviewing studies of the pre-linguistic stage, early linguistic communication and more advanced pragmatics as measured both by general pragmatic checklists and more specific assessments of information structure and inference, deception and non-literal language (including sarcasm), and conversation. Where present, delays are consistently explained by the cumulative effects of access to a fluent natural language model, which affects both the acquisition of linguistic forms and the social and cognitive skills needed to use them in interaction. Implications for educators are briefly considered.