One UVic researcher wants to know how communication disorders in children affect literacy development.

Dr. Gina Harrison, an assistant professor in educational psychology, is heading the study which targets young children who have communication disorders and/or literacy-based learning difficulties. Such children are vulnerable to future learning difficulties as they often fall behind academically.

The study involves reading, language and writing tasks, such as detecting and producing rhyming words. Harrison and her research team are currently recruiting participants.

“The project is aimed at young children ages four to six. We are interested in finding out why these children are at particular risk for literacy-based learning difficulties, and if there is anything in their literacy profiles that is distinct from children who don’t have communication impairments, but nevertheless develop reading and writing difficulties,” said Harrison.

Previous research has revealed that children with communication disorders, especially those with problems in language production and comprehension, are at high risk for developing reading and writing difficulties.

Harrison and her team intends to use this new study to discover why these children are at risk for literacy-based learning difficulties, as well as what distinguishes children with language and literacy difficulties from those with literacy difficulties only.

“What we don’t know very well, is why and how the language and literacy profiles of these children may put them at risk differently for literacy problems than children who have literacy difficulties without co-occurring communication impairments,” said Harrison.

The study is currently in its early stages of data collection. Once complete, Harrison hopes that her team’s findings will allow for the development of effective early literacy interventions.

“We hope to find a unique profile of literacy learning strengths and weaknesses within this population. [Such interventions would] hopefully prevent reading and writing difficulties or, at the very least, reduce the impact of these difficulties to promote children’s academic success,” she said.

When the study is over and data has been compiled, the research will be presented at national and international scholarly conferences, as well as locally to target audiences of early childhood health and education practitioners.

For more infotmation on Harrison’s study, visit http://educ.uvic.ca/epls/faculty/harrison.