One main objective of the research group is to investigate why some children have difficulties developing their mother tongue and/or reading skills, while for the majority this process happens fluently, through daily interaction with their parents and environment, and at school. Our research includes different subsamples of children, including children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and learning disorders. We use both behavioral and brain imaging methods to understand the individual differences between children with respect to language and reading development, classically by means of longitudinal designs that start early in childhood (i.e. from the infant age to kindergarten age at the latest). A second main objective of the research group is to translate research findings into clinical practice within the domain of learning disorders and broader, within speech therapy.
Team members
Jolijn Vanderauwera (Principal Investigator)
Joanne Gosselain (PhD student)
Clémence Corriat (PhD student)
Collaborations
Elise de Bree and Jurgen Tijms (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Sietske van Viersen (University of Utrecht, the Netherlands)
Nadine Gaab (Harvard University, USA)
Jennifer Zuk (Boston University, USA)
Sabine van Eerdenbrugh (Thomas More Antwerp, Belgium)
Maaike Vandermosten, Pol Ghesquière and Jan Wouters (KULeuven, Belgium)
Ongoing Projects
The ELENA study has as an objective to understand early predictors of language disorders. This project includes children from as early as infancy. The AVA-LAP study investigates language development in a wide range of populations, including children with premature birth and rare genetic disorders. Finally, a third project will include children with a developmental language disorder (DLD) and typically developing children, and has as an objective to understand why some of these individuals with DLD develop reading problems later on, while others have no particular difficulties with reading development.
Key publications
- Economou, M., Vanden Bempt, F., Van Herck, S., Glatz, T., Wouters, J., Ghesquière, P., Vanderauwera, J., & Vandermosten M. (2022). Investigating the impact of early literacy training on white matter structure in prereaders at risk for dyslexia. Cerebral Cortex, 32 (21), 4684-4697. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhab510
- Van Der Auwera S., Vandermosten M., Wouters J., Ghesquière P., & Vanderauwera J. (2021). A three-time point longitudinal investigation of the arcuate fasciculus throughout reading acquisition in children developing dyslexia. Neuroimage, 237, 118087. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118087
- Verwimp, C., Vanden Bempt, F., Kellens, S., Economou, M., Vandermosten, M., Wouters, J., Ghesquière, P., & Vanderauwera, J. (2020). Pre-literacy heterogeneity in Dutch-speaking kindergartners : Latent Profile Analysis. Annals of Dyslexia, 70, 275- 294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-020-00207-9
- Achievement: The construction of the first belgian guideline in the field of Speech and Language Therapy and Audiology: Van Eerdenbrugh, S., D’haenens, W., Leysen, H., Leclercq, A.-L., Vanden Bempt, F., Bouckaert, L., & Vanderauwera, J. Guideline for telepractice in Speech therapy and Audiology for children ≤ 12 years. The project has been initiated in 2022 and the guideline has been validated by CEBAM and Published in October 2023. Description: The guideline is based on a systematic review of existing evidence on telepractice. Through the extensive process of guideline development, that enholds a thorough evaluation of the existing evidence in close interaction with a wide range of stakeholders and policy makers, recommendations have been formulated that bridge the gap between research and clinical practice.