Emma Pagnamenta

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Lecturer at University of Reading

Purpose Digital health solutions to support parent-implemented interventions alongside direct speech and language therapist (SLT) input could help increase intervention intensity for children with speech sound disorder (SSD) to meet evidence-based recommendations. This realist review explores the factors which could make intensive parent-implemente...

Background Speech sound disorders (SSDs) are broadly defined as difficulty producing speech sounds in childhood. Reported prevalence of SSD varies from 2.3% to 24.6%, depending on how SSD is defined and the included age range. SSDs that do not resolve before age 8 can have a lasting impact on a child's academic achievements. The intensity of interv...

Purpose Although children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are known to have difficulties with emergent literacy skills, few available studies have examined emergent literacy skills in Arabic-speaking children with DLD. Even though Arabic language characteristics, such as diglossia and orthographic structure, influence the acquisition of...

Background This paper reports the results from a feasibility trial of an early parent-delivered social communication intervention for young children with Down syndrome (‘ASCEND’). The intervention focuses on developing children’s early social communication skills, in particular responding to shared attention. The aim was to inform the feasibility o...

Introduction Speech and language therapists (SLTs) worldwide report challenges with providing recommended, evidence-based intervention intensity for children with speech sound disorder (SSD). Challenges such as service constraints and/or family contexts impact on access to optimal therapy intensity. Existing research indicates that empowering and t...

Background Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, affecting 700–800 babies annually in the UK (Wu J, Morris J, Eur J Hum Genet 21:1016–9, 2013). Children with Down syndrome have difficulties developing language skills. These difficulties can have long-term negative consequences for all aspects of their lives incl...

Background: This paper reports the results from a feasibility trial of an early parent-delivered social communication intervention for young children with Down syndrome (‘ASCEND'). The intervention focuses on developing children’s early social communication skills, in particular responding to shared attention. The aim was to inform the feasibility...

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact across the globe. Evidence suggests children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and their families experienced impacts on well-being and disruptions in support from education and health services. This study investigated the impact of measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on children...

Acquiring language and communication skills is one of the biggest challenges for children with Down syndrome (DS). However, few evidence-based interventions exist to enhance the development of language and communication in this population. Shared book reading (SBR) is well-established as an effective intervention for language and communication deve...

Background Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder that often starts in early years with serious and lasting consequences. Nonpharmacological interventions are commonly seen as the preferred first treatment. This systematic review identifies outcome measures used and outcomes achieved for nonpharmacological interventions for children and adole...

Purpose Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) in childhood are associated with negative consequences across the life course. Children with developmental language disorder have been identified as being at risk of developing SEBD but it is unclear whether a similar risk exists for children with speech sound disorder, a condition which...

Purpose This research priority setting partnership (PSP) aims to collaboratively identify the “top ten” research priorities relating to communication and swallowing for children and adults with learning disabilities, across the lifespan in the UK, using a modified James Lind Alliance approach. Design/methodology/approach A steering group and refer...

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions, yet is chronically underserved, with far fewer children receiving clinical services than expected from prevalence estimates, and very little research attention relative to other neurodevelopmental conditions of similar prevalence and severity. This editor...

Background: Speech and language acquisition can be a challenge for young children with Down syndrome (DS), and while early intervention is important, we do not know what early interventions exist and how effective they may be. Aims: To systematically review existing early speech, language and communication interventions for young children with D...

Objective To conduct the first UK-wide research priority setting project informing researchers and funders of critical knowledge gaps requiring investigation to improve the health and well-being of patients with eating, drinking and swallowing disorders (dysphagia) and their carers. Design A priority setting partnership between the National Instit...

Background Down syndrome is the most common cause of learning disability, affecting approximately 1 in every 700 babies. Children with Down syndrome have particular difficulties with speech and language. This makes it challenging for them to participate fully in life, access healthcare services and educational opportunities. Improving the language...

Purpose Research on the typical and impaired grammatical acquisition of Arabic is limited. This study systematically examined the morphosyntactic abilities of Arabic-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD) using a novel sentence repetition task. The usefulness of the task as an indicator of DLD in Arabic was determi...

• Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the delivery of education and healthcare for children across the UK. Speech and language therapists have reported changes in service delivery (Chadd et al., 2021). Many children received no speech and language therapy during lockdown and any support they did receive was significantl...

Research with English-speaking populations has shown that there is a relationship between developmental language disorder (DLD) and emergent literacy skills in children. A small number of Arabic studies have indirectly investigated this relationship in typically developing (TD) children, and children with reading difficulties, and demonstrated the...

Research with English-speaking populations has shown that there is a relationship between developmental language disorder (DLD) and emergent literacy skills in children. A small number of Arabic studies have indirectly investigated this relationship in typically developing (TD) children, and children with reading difficulties, and demonstrated the...

Purpose This study evaluates the effectiveness of a nonword repetition (NWR) task in discriminating between Palestinian Arabic–speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and age-matched typically developing (TD) children. Method Participants were 30 children with DLD aged between 4;0 and 6;10 (years;months) and 60 TD children age...

Background: Down syndrome is the most common cause of learning disability, affecting approximately 1 in every 700 babies. Children with Down Syndrome have particular difficulties with speech and language. This makes it challenging for them to participate fully in life, access health care services and educational opportunities. Improving the languag...

Purpose This study investigated the production of tense and subject–verb agreement in Palestinian Arabic–speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) in comparison to their typically developing (TD) peers in terms of (a) performance accuracy and (b) error patterns. Method Participants were 14 children with DLD aged 4;0–7;10 and 32...

Background: Children with persistent speech disorder (PSD) are at higher risk of difficulties with literacy, with some evidence suggesting an association with poorer educational attainment. However, studies to date have either used small clinical samples, which exclude children who have not been referred to clinical services, or relied on parent-t...

Bilateral volume reduction in the caudate nucleus has been established as a prominent brain abnormality associated with a FOXP2 mutation in affected members of the ‘KE family’, who present with developmental orofacial and verbal dyspraxia in conjunction with pervasive language deficits. Despite the gene’s early and prominent expression in the cereb...

Aim: To carry out an audit of the quantity and content of research teaching on UK preregistration speech and language therapy (SLT) degree programmes. Method: Lecturers delivering research teaching from each higher education institution providing preregistration training were invited to complete an online survey. Questions included: Amount of...