My Sentence Builder for Language Disorder

Recruiting at 6 trial locations

Overseen By Jennifer J Vannest, PhD

Age: < 18

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of Cincinnati

Disqualifiers: Speech-language intervention, MRI unsafe, special education, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 27

Duration: 14 weeks

184 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial aims to understand how young children with developmental language disorders (DLD) learn and improve their grammar skills. It uses a computer-assisted program called My Sentence Builder to help preschoolers with grammar challenges. The trial compares children using the program to those receiving regular classroom services without additional treatment. Children who struggle with sentence expression and aren't receiving other speech-language help might be a good fit. As an unphased trial, this study offers a unique opportunity for children to potentially enhance their language skills with innovative tools.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether participants need to stop taking their current medications.

What prior data suggests that this computer-assisted intervention is safe for preschoolers with DLD?

Research has shown that specific safety information for the treatment "My Sentence Builder" or similar methods for developmental language disorder is not yet available. This treatment helps preschoolers improve their grammar skills. The trial is in an early stage, so detailed safety information is limited. However, as a computer-based program, it is generally considered low-risk. So far, research has not reported any negative effects from this treatment. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the My Sentence Builder treatment because it offers a fresh approach for helping preschoolers with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). Unlike traditional methods that rely heavily on in-person therapy sessions, this is a computer-assisted intervention specifically targeting expressive grammar. This digital format not only makes learning more engaging for young children but also allows for personalized practice and feedback, potentially accelerating language development. The innovative use of technology in My Sentence Builder could transform how we address language disorders in early childhood.

What evidence suggests that My Sentence Builder is effective for developmental language disorders?

Research has shown that starting intensive help early can greatly improve language skills in young children with developmental language disorders (DLD). In this trial, participants will either receive the computer-assisted intervention called My Sentence Builder, which targets expressive grammar for preschoolers with DLD, or continue with standard classroom services. One study found that My Sentence Builder improved preschoolers' ability to use grammar, a common challenge for those with DLD. This suggests that focused digital tools can enhance language skills. Overall, My Sentence Builder appears to be a promising tool for helping children overcome grammar difficulties related to DLD, providing a valuable resource for language development. ^{6 7 8 9 10}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Karla N Washington, PhD

Principal Investigator

University of Cincinnati

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for preschoolers aged 4 to almost 6 with developmental language disorders affecting their grammar. They must speak only English, have normal hearing and vision (with correction), average nonverbal IQ, and no other interventions or special education for communication issues. Kids who can't safely undergo an MRI are excluded.

Inclusion Criteria

People who have normal language and social skills.

I am between 4 and 6 years old.

You have normal ability to move your mouth and tongue for eating and speaking.

Exclusion Criteria

Special education placement of child based on ability or behavior

I am currently getting help for my communication skills.

You cannot undergo an MRI scan safely.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-3 weeks

Treatment

Participants receive computer-assisted intervention targeting expressive grammar for preschoolers with DLD

14 weeks

Regular sessions as part of the intervention

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for safety and effectiveness after treatment

13-14 weeks

Assessments at 27 to 28 weeks post-treatment

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• My Sentence Builder

Trial Overview 'My Sentence Builder' is being tested in this study to see if it helps improve grammar in children with developmental language disorders. The research includes brain scans (neuroimaging) and behavior tests to understand how the treatment might cause changes in the brain related to language learning.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Treatment Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

computer assisted intervention targeting expressive grammar for preschoolers with DLD

Group II: No treatment Active Control 1 Intervention

business as usual classroom (educational) services

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of Cincinnati

Lead Sponsor

Trials

442

Recruited

639,000+

University of Toronto

Collaborator

Trials

739

Recruited

1,125,000+

Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati

Collaborator

Trials

844

Recruited

6,566,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

The use of the SentenceShaper communication system has shown promise in helping individuals with aphasia produce more structured speech by reducing the impact of processing limitations, allowing for better monitoring of their own speech.

The study aims to confirm previous findings that using SentenceShaper can lead to improvements in spontaneous speech production, while also investigating whether practice effects from repeated narrative elicitations could affect the perceived efficacy of the system.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Widening the temporal window: processing support in the treatment of aphasic language production. Linebarger, M., McCall, D., Virata, T., et al.[2022]

A 65-year-old man with severe nonfluent aphasia showed significant improvement in producing tense-marked sentences after training with the Computerized Visual Communication System (C-VIC), and he maintained these gains for five months post-treatment.

After a second training session, the patient was able to maintain some improvements for up to a year, suggesting that ongoing practice in sentence-level therapy contributed to the retention of skills.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Maintenance of oral production in agrammatic aphasia: verb tense morphology training. Boser, KI., Weinrich, M., McCall, D.[2019]

A linguistic-specific treatment approach for agrammatic aphasia has shown successful outcomes in improving sentence production deficits, with targeted training leading to better performance on both trained and similar untrained sentences.

Improvements were also observed in discourse tasks, indicating that this treatment not only helps with specific sentence structures but also enhances overall communication abilities.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Linguistic-Specific Sentence Production Treatment for Agrammatic Aphasia. Thompson, CK.[2019]

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) showed significantly poorer performance on a Danish sentence repetition task compared to typically developing (TD) peers, particularly in areas like verb inflection and word order, indicating specific morphosyntactic difficulties.

The sentence repetition task demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity (over 90%) for identifying DLD in children, suggesting it could be a valuable clinical marker for diagnosing language disorders in Danish-speaking populations.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Sentence Repetition: A Clinical Marker for Developmental Language Disorder in Danish. Vang Christensen, R.[2020]

The Dynamic Assessment of Sentence Structure (DASS) was developed and tested on 24 children aged 8-10 with language impairments, showing high reliability and validity in assessing their sentence formulation skills.

This assessment tool provides valuable insights into children's language strategies and learning transfer, which can help speech and language therapists tailor effective intervention programs for each child.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Dynamic Assessment of Sentence Structure (DASS): design and evaluation of a novel procedure for the assessment of syntax in children with language impairments. Hasson, N., Dodd, B., Botting, N.[2019]

The therapeutic program successfully replicated from a previous study led to improvements in both sentence comprehension and production for a patient with specific sentence processing deficits.

The results provided valuable insights into the nature of the patient's deficits and the underlying mechanisms of the therapy, suggesting its effectiveness in addressing similar language processing issues.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Sentence processing deficits: a replication of therapy. Nickels, L., Byng, S., Black, M.[2019]

Scholars with oral and written language disorder produced significantly more words and verbs in their oral narratives compared to their written narratives, indicating a difference in linguistic productivity between the two modalities.

The research group showed less frequent use of time markers and fewer reported episodes in their written narratives, suggesting challenges in narrative structure and temporal organization in written language compared to oral language.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Linguistic and narrative variables in oral and written language disorder]. Miilher, LP., de Avila, CR.[2019]

A computer-assisted treatment program (C-AT) called My Sentence Builder was effective in improving expressive-grammar skills in preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI), showing significant improvements compared to a control group that received no treatment.

Both the C-AT and traditional non-computer-assisted treatment (nC-AT) led to similar gains in expressive-grammar skills, indicating that while C-AT is a viable treatment option, it does not outperform conventional methods in this context.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Exploring the outcomes of a novel computer-assisted treatment program targeting expressive-grammar deficits in preschoolers with SLI. Washington, KN., Warr-Leeper, G., Thomas-Stonell, N.[2011]

A controlled study involving 11 language-disordered children demonstrated that a structured intervention strategy significantly improved their syntax skills, moving them from single words to more complex sentence structures.

The experimental group showed measurable gains in performance compared to a control group, with statistical significance (t = 2.31, p < 0.05), indicating the effectiveness of the therapy program.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

A syntax program designed to present base linguistic structures to language-disordered children. Zwitman, DH., Sonderman, JC.[2019]

Citations

1. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8005159/

Efficacy of the Treatment of Developmental Language Disorder Early intensive intervention in three- and four-year-old children has a positive effect on phonological expressive and receptive skills and ...

2. mhealth.jmir.org mhealth.jmir.org/2025/1/e59992

Digital Intervention in Children With Developmental Language ... This systematic review indicates that phonological skills are the most frequently targeted language domain by digital interventions in children with DLD.

3. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0021992411000037

Exploring the outcomes of a novel computer-assisted ... This study evaluated the impact of a novel C-AT program, My Sentence Builder, for the remediation of expressive-grammar deficits affecting the production of ...

4. acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.70067?af=R

Annual Research Review: Developmental language disorder There is also mounting evidence that DLD can have a devastating impact on educational, social, mental health, employment, and legal outcomes.

5. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12124036/

Digital Intervention in Children With Developmental Language ... This systematic review indicates that phonological skills are the most frequently targeted language domain by digital interventions in children with DLD.

6. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38787301/

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis The overall meta-analysis found that, on average, TD children outperformed children with DLD on the SR tasks by 2.08 SDs. Subgroup analyses ...

7. pubs.asha.org pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00490

Sentence Repetition as a Diagnostic Tool for ... This systematic review and multilevel meta-analysis examines the accuracy of sentence repetition (SR) tasks in distinguishing between typically developing (TD) ...

8. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8156743/

Developmental Language Disorder: Early Predictors, Age for ... Data search: 2013–2017, Identify: (a) risk factors associated with delays in the development of children's oral language (b) protective factors that could ...

9. research.manchester.ac.uk research.manchester.ac.uk/files/306868785/WARD_et_al_-_meta_analysis.pdf

Sentence Repetition as a Diagnostic Tool for Developmental ... on average TD children outperformed children with DLD on the SR tasks by 2.08 SDs. 43. Subgroup analyses found that effect size only varied as a function of ...

10. withpower.com withpower.com/trial/phase-language-disorders-7-2023-316a1

Language Intervention for Developmental ... The available research does not provide specific safety data for Language Intervention for Developmental Language Disorder or related treatments like Sentence ...