Helping children with developmental language disorder predict upcoming words in sentences
Official title: Sentence Prediction in Developmental Language Disorder
Run by Father Flanagan's Boys' Home · NCT07510854 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tries training sentence-prediction skills in school-age children with developmental language disorder to see if it helps them understand sentences better.
Quick facts
| Study type | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Ages | 5 Years to 7 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Enrollment | 80 (estimated) |
| Sponsor | Father Flanagan's Boys' Home Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Omaha, Nebraska) |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Started | February 16, 2026 |
| Main results expected | July 2028 |
| Study ends | July 2028 |
| Registry record updated | April 6, 2026 |
| Trial ID | NCT07510854 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
Is this trial a fit for you?
✓Likely a good fit
Ideal participants are school-age children with DLD (TNL-2 score < 92) who have normal hearing and vision, no neurological disorders, non-autistic-range CARS-2 scores, and Visual Spatial Index scores ≥ 75.
✕Probably not a fit
Children with autism-spectrum disorder, significant visual-spatial cognitive impairment (Visual Spatial Index < 75), uncorrected hearing or vision problems, or those unable to travel to the study site are unlikely to benefit from this protocol.
A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.
What this trial studies
This single-site interventional project compares children with developmental language disorder (DLD) to typically developing peers on tasks that manipulate thematic role cues and sentence complexity to probe prediction during sentence processing. Children complete behavioral tasks that measure how rapidly and accurately they anticipate upcoming words after verbs under different sentence structures. Group membership is determined using the Test of Narrative Language-2 (TNL-2) and participants must meet hearing, vision, and cognitive cutoffs while excluding autism-range scores. Results will focus on whether differences in prediction relate to sentence comprehension and whether manipulating thematic role or complexity changes predictive behavior.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the approach could improve sentence comprehension for children with DLD and inform targeted language interventions that boost classroom learning.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work shows prediction supports sentence comprehension in typical development and that children with DLD have reduced predictive ability, but applying targeted manipulations to improve prediction in DLD is relatively novel.
Who can join: the full rules
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Pass a hearing screening at 25dB at 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz * Have normal or corrected-to-normal vision * Have no history of neurological disorders * For DLD group, Test of Narrative Language 2 (TNL-2) score less than 92 * For TD group, TNL-2 score greater than 92, a cut-off that provides excellent sensitivity/specificity (.92/.92). Exclusion Criteria: * Scores in the Autism range on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale 2 (CARS-2) * Scores below 75 on the Visual Spatial Index of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence 4 (WPPSI-IV)
Where it's running
-
Boys Town National Research Hospital
Omaha, Nebraska, United States Recruiting
Study contacts
- Study coordinator: Justin Kueser, PhD
- Email: justin.kueser@boystown.org
- Phone: 531-355-5035
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How to take part
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
- Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.