Dwight W. Irvin

Using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system in preschool classrooms with children with autism spectrum disorders

This study describes the language environment of preschool programs serving children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and examines relationships between child characteristics and an automated measure of adult and child language in the classroom. The Language Environment Analysis (LENA) system was used with 40 children with ASD to collect data on adult and child language. Standardized assessments were administered to obtain language, cognitive, and autism severity scores for participants. With a mean of over 5 hours of recording across two days several months apart, there was a mean of 3.6 child vocalizations per minute, 1.0 conversational turns (in which either the adult or child respond to the other within 5 seconds) per minute, and 29.2 adult words per minute. Two of the three LENA variables were significantly correlated with language age-equivalents. Cognitive age-equivalents were also significantly correlated with two LENA variables. Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule severity scores and LENA variables were not significantly correlated. Implications for using the LENA system with children with ASD in the school environment are discussed.

Employing speech and location information for automatic assessment of child language environments

Assessment of the language environment of children in early childhood is a challenging task for both human and machine, and understanding the classroom environment of early learners is an essential step towards facilitating language acquisition and development. This paper explores an approach for intelligent language environment monitoring based on the duration of child-to-child and adult-to-child conversations and a childs physical location in classrooms within a childcare center. The amount of childs communication with other children and adults was measured using an i-vector based child-adult diarization system (developed at CRSS). Furthermore the average time spent by each child across different activity areas within the classroom was measured using a location tracking system. The proposed solution here offers unique opportunities to assess speech and language interaction for children, and quantify location context which would contribute to improved language environments.

Child and setting characteristics affecting the adult talk directed at preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder in the inclusive classroom

Difficulty with social competence is a core deficit of autism spectrum disorder. Research on typically developing children and children with disabilities, in general, suggests the adult talk received in the classroom is related to their social development. The aims of this study were to examine (1) the types and amounts of adult talk children with autism spectrum disorder are exposed to in the preschool classroom and (2) the associations between child characteristics (e.g. language), activity area, and adult talk. Kontos’ Teacher Talk classification was used to code videos approximately 30 min in length of 73 children with autism spectrum disorder (ages 3–5) in inclusive classrooms (n = 33) during center time. The results indicated practical/personal assistance was the most common type of adult talk coded, and behavior management talk least often coded. Child characteristics (i.e. age and autism severity) and activity area were found to be related to specific types of adult talk. Given the findings, implications for future research are discussed.

Studying the relationship between physical and language environments of children: Who's speaking to whom and where?

Understanding the language environments of early learners is critical in facilitating school success. Increasingly large scale projects (e.g., Providence Talks, Bridging the Word Gap) are investigating the language environments of young children in an attempt to better understand and facilitate language acquisition and development. The primary tool used to collect and analyze data related to the language environments of young learners is the LENA digital language processor (DLP). LENA allows for the continuous capture of language, primarily focused on a single child to adult interactions for up to 16 hrs. Subsequent analysis of the audio using spoken language technology (SLT) provides meaningful metrics such as total adult word count and conversational turns. One shortcoming of collecting continuous audio alone is that the physical context of adult-to-child or child-to-child communication is lost. In this study, we describe our recent data collection effort which combines the LENA and Ubisense sensors to allow for simultaneous capture of both spacial information along with speech and time. We are particularly interested in researching the relationship between the physical and language environments of children. In this study, we describe our collection methodology, results from initial probe experiments and our latest efforts in developing relevant SLT metrics. The new data and techniques described in this study can help in developing a richer understanding of how physical environments promote or encourage communication in early childhood classrooms. In theory, such speech and location technology can contribute to the design of future learning spaces specifically designed for typically developing children, or those with or at-risk for disabilities.

Long-Term Impact of a Cell Phone–Enhanced Parenting Intervention:

Home visiting programs support positive parenting in populations at-risk of child maltreatment, but their impact is often limited by poor retention and engagement. The current study assessed whether a cellular phone–supported version (PCI-C) of the Parent-Child Interactions (PCI) intervention improved long-term parenting practices, maternal depression, and children’s aggression. Low-income mothers (n = 371) of preschool-aged children were assigned to one of the three groups: PCI-C, PCI, and a wait-list control (WLC) group. Parenting improved in both intervention groups between baseline and 12-month follow-up compared to the WLC. Children in the PCI-C group were rated to be more cooperative and less aggressive than children in the WLC. The results offer evidence of the long-term effectiveness of PCI and the additional benefits of cellular phone supports for promoting intervention retention and improving children’s behavior.

Automatic measurement and analysis of the child verbal communication using classroom acoustics within a child care center.

Understanding the language environment of early learners is a challenging task for both human and machine, and it is critical in facilitating effective language development among young children. This papers presents a new application for the existing diarization systems and investigates the language environment of young children using a turn taking strategy employing an i-vector based baseline that captures adult-to-child or child-tochild conversational turns across different classrooms in a child care center. Detecting speaker turns is necessary before more in depth subsequent analysis of audio such as word count, speech recognition, and keyword spotting which can contribute to the design of future learning spaces specifically designed for typically developing children, or those at-risk with communication limitations. Experimental results using naturalistic childteacher classroom settings indicate the proposed rapid childadult speech turn taking scheme is highly effective under noisy classroom conditions and results in 27.3% relative error rate reduction compared to the baseline results produced by the LIUM diarization toolkit.

The questions verbal children with autism spectrum disorder encounter in the inclusive preschool classroom

This study investigated questions adults asked to children with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive pre-kindergarten classrooms, and whether child (e.g. autism severity) and setting (i.e. adult-to-child ratio) characteristics were related to questions asked during center-time. Videos of verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (n = 42) were coded based on the following question categories adapted from the work of Massey et al.: management, low cognitive challenging, or cognitively challenging. Results indicated that management questions (mean = 19.97, standard deviation = 12.71) were asked more than less cognitively challenging questions (mean = 14.22, standard deviation = 8.98) and less cognitively challenging questions were asked more than cognitively challenging questions (mean = 10.00, standard deviation = 6.9). Children with higher language levels had a greater likelihood of receiving cognitively challenging questions (odds ratio = 1.025; p = 0.007). Cognitively challenging questions had a greater likelihood of being asked in classrooms with more adults relative to children (odds ratio = 1.176; p = 0.037). The findings present a first step in identifying the questions directed at preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive classrooms.

Adult Talk in the Inclusive Classroom and the Socially Competent Behavior of Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Difficulty with social competence is a core deficit of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to examine the link between adult talk and the socially competent behavior displayed by preschoolers with ASD concurrently and over time. A modified version of Kontos’s Teacher Talk classification was used to code videos of 73 children with ASD (ages 3–5) in inclusive classrooms (n = 33). Supporting peer relation and positive social contact forms of adult talk were concurrently associated with children’s socially competent behavior. In comparison, higher amounts of supporting object play talk positively affected children’s social competence over time (i.e., 1 school year), and more behavior management talk was related to worsening social competence as perceived by teachers. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Update on the EMI for Infants and Toddlers

Universal screening and progress monitoring measures are increasingly of interest to early interventionists who make decisions about the services provided to young children. A measure of infant-toddlers’ growth in early movement, the Early Movement Indicator (EMI), was reported in 2002. However, the EMI has remained an experimental measure based on a small sample and not used broadly by practitioners in real-world programs. We addressed this limitation by advancing knowledge the EMIs scalability through a website and improved psychometrics in a large sample. Results indicated that the EMI was (a) scalable evidenced by a large volume of early childhood staff users in programs in five states with 628 children and 2,258 individual EMI assessments, (b) sensitive to growth over time, (c) comprised of a complex continuum of skill development, and (d) influenced by moderators (i.e., home language, Individual Family Service Plan [IFSP] status). Implications for research and practice are discussed.

An Ecobehavioral Analysis of Child Academic Engagement: Implications for Preschool Children Not Responding to Instructional Intervention:

A gap exists in the information needed to make intervention decisions with preschool children who are unresponsive to instructional intervention. Multi-Tiered System of Supports/Response to Intervention (MTSS/RTI) progress monitoring is helpful in indicating when an intervention change is needed but provides little information on what to change. Ecobehavioral observation data may provide this support through information on a child’s academic and other behaviors, given the opportunity to learn. We sought to investigate this hypothesis and develop benchmarks for decision making. Teachers (N = 39) and two representative age-cohorts of preschool children (N = 117, 51% boys) were observed using an ecobehavioral, momentary time sample observation system (the Code for Interactive Recording of Children’s Learning Environments [CIRCLE]). Results provided insights into the content and amount of academic instruction children received, the responsiveness of children to instruction, and how context/teacher and child behaviors relationships were moderated by children’s level of Get Ready to Read (GRTR) literacy and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) status risk. Implications are discussed.