Characterizing Late Talker Communication with Black Caregivers

Project Abstract Black children are at risk for misdiagnosis across categories of disability due to inappropriate assessment materials and clinicians’ lack of knowledge regarding Black families’ cultural-linguistic practices. Criteria for identifying children with late language emergence (LLE), otherwise known as late talkers, are based on the

communication norms of middle-upper class, monolingual, white families. Because communication practices vary across cultures, typical language acquisition may also vary accordingly. Current assessment protocols, including standardized tests, criterion-referenced measures, and questionnaires, are structured around one

specific culture’s expectations for communication. Without criteria that are consistent with the cultural-linguistic practices of Black families, Black children are at risk for being mislabeled as a late talker due to a mismatch between current criteria and their community language practices. The proposed study centers the expertise of

Black caregivers regarding their children identified as late talkers through the use of video-cued ethnography to gather qualitative data. In addition, quantitative data will be gathered through direct assessment of the children, which will be compared to the qualitative data. This mixed methods study will (1) characterize Black caregivers’

conceptualization of effective communication and late talking; (2) describe Black caregivers’ experiences and evaluation of the language assessment process; and (3) investigate the relation between Black caregivers’ conceptualization of effective communication and current assessment protocols for identifying late talkers.

Black caregivers across socioeconomic status who have children identified as late talkers will respond to a recording of a traditional language assessment of an unknown child and to questions regarding their conceptualization of language and communication in individual interviews; participate collectively in a focus

group to discuss their experiences with language assessments; and provide real-time commentary as they observe a language assessment of their own child. Video-cued analysis will be used to identify themes in individual interview and focus group transcripts. Descriptive analysis will be used to compare caregivers’

qualitative responses to numerical data derived from the language assessment of the children. Emerging themes across families will inform our understanding of the cultural practices that transcend SES and bear on Black children’s communication and the evaluation thereof. Caregiver feedback on assessment protocols will

improve clinicians’ use of current assessment protocols with Black families and clinicians’ accuracy of their description of Black children’s communication abilities.