Language is a fundamental aspect of human communication, and impairments result in lifelong struggles. Imagine having trouble communicating basic wants and needs and understanding the fast pace of the world around you. It’s a frustrating and scary scenario. For children with neurodevelopmental disorders – including Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, and autism spectrum disorder – language impairments are a part of life.
About the scholar
Audra Sterling is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Her research focuses on the cognitive and language development of individuals with developmental disabilities. She is interested in children with fragile X syndrome, autism spectrum disorder and Down syndrome. She seeks to understand how biology and environment affect development of language and cognition in children with developmental disabilities.
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These struggles begin early in development and continue throughout life. Unfortunately, language impairments are associated with difficulties in school, difficulties with relationships and eventually problems with employment.
My work seeks to understand the strengths and weaknesses within language for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, with the hope of alleviating some of these later consequences.
Too many times, we focus on weaknesses in research and subsequently in clinical practice.
Research and life, however, tell us that playing on our strengths is the optimal way to target growth.
My goal is to understand how to assess and treat language impairments in children, by providing speech-language pathologists and educators with information to help children learn and thrive in their environment.
Recently we have begun an exciting project to uncover how language impairments are related to underlying brain regions and connections.
This will help us understand how each disorder develops in the brain.
We can then use that information to help us better understand language performance. This work will help us identify how each disorder impacts development, and how we can best work with children to improve communication.
This essay originally appeared in the Wisconsin State Journal’s Fueling Discovery section on May 4, 2020. Fueling Discovery is a special partnership between the Wisconsin State Journal and the College of Letters & Science.