The gradual expansion in complexity and meaning of symbols and sounds as perceived and interpreted by the individual through a maturational and learning process. Stages in development include babbling, cooing, word imitation with cognition, and use of short sentences.

Conditions characterized by language abilities (comprehension and expression of speech and writing) that are below the expected level for a given age, generally in the absence of an intellectual impairment. These conditions may be associated with DEAFNESS; BRAIN DISEASES; MENTAL DISORDERS; or environmental factors.

The language and sounds expressed by a child at a particular maturational stage in development.

Tests designed to assess language behavior and abilities. They include tests of vocabulary, comprehension, grammar and functional use of language, e.g., Development Sentence Scoring, Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale, Parsons Language Sample, Utah Test of Language Development, Michigan Language Inventory and Verbal Language Development Scale, Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, Northwestern Syntax Screening Test, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Ammons Full-Range Picture Vocabulary Test, and Assessment of Children's Language Comprehension.

Conditions characterized by deficiencies of comprehension or expression of written and spoken forms of language. These include acquired and developmental disorders.

A system of hand gestures used for communication by the deaf or by people speaking different languages.

The sum or the stock of words used by a language, a group, or an individual. (From Webster, 3d ed)

The science of language, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and historical linguistics. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Rehabilitation of persons with language disorders or training of children with language development disorders.

Communication through a system of conventional vocal symbols.

Includes both producing and responding to words, either written or spoken.

A general term for the complete loss of the ability to hear from both ears.

Persons with any degree of loss of hearing that has an impact on their activities of daily living or that requires special assistance or intervention.

The continuous sequential physiological and psychological maturing of an individual from birth up to but not including ADOLESCENCE.

Component of the NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. It conducts and supports biomedical research and research training on normal mechanisms as well as diseases and disorders of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. It was established in 1988.

Electronic hearing devices typically used for patients with normal outer and middle ear function, but defective inner ear function. In the COCHLEA, the hair cells (HAIR CELLS, VESTIBULAR) may be absent or damaged but there are residual nerve fibers. The device electrically stimulates the COCHLEAR NERVE to create sound sensation.

The science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Measurement of parameters of the speech product such as vocal tone, loudness, pitch, voice quality, articulation, resonance, phonation, phonetic structure and prosody.

Learning to respond verbally to a verbal stimulus cue.

A compound formed when iodoacetic acid reacts with sulfhydryl groups in proteins. It has been used as an anti-infective nasal spray with mucolytic and expectorant action.

Specific languages used to prepare computer programs.

Acquired or developmental conditions marked by an impaired ability to comprehend or generate spoken forms of language.

Part of an ear examination that measures the ability of sound to reach the brain.

A disorder beginning in childhood. It is marked by the presence of markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction and communication and a markedly restricted repertoire of activity and interest. Manifestations of the disorder vary greatly depending on the developmental level and chronological age of the individual. (DSM-V)

Surgical insertion of an electronic hearing device (COCHLEAR IMPLANTS) with electrodes to the COCHLEAR NERVE in the inner ear to create sound sensation in patients with residual nerve fibers.

The ability to speak, read, or write several languages or many languages with some facility. Bilingualism is the most common form. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

A general term for the complete or partial loss of the ability to hear from one or both ears.

Disorders in which there is a delay in development based on that expected for a given age level or stage of development. These impairments or disabilities originate before age 18, may be expected to continue indefinitely, and constitute a substantial impairment. Biological and nonbiological factors are involved in these disorders. (From American Psychiatric Glossary, 6th ed)

Treatment for individuals with speech defects and disorders that involves counseling and use of various exercises and aids to help the development of new speech habits.

The relationships between symbols and their meanings.

Computer processing of a language with rules that reflect and describe current usage rather than prescribed usage.

Procedures for correcting HEARING DISORDERS.

Involuntary ("parrot-like"), meaningless repetition of a recently heard word, phrase, or song. This condition may be associated with transcortical APHASIA; SCHIZOPHRENIA; or other disorders. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p485)

The process whereby an utterance is decoded into a representation in terms of linguistic units (sequences of phonetic segments which combine to form lexical and grammatical morphemes).

Hearing loss due to interference with the mechanical reception or amplification of sound to the COCHLEA. The interference is in the outer or middle ear involving the EAR CANAL; TYMPANIC MEMBRANE; or EAR OSSICLES.

The act, process, or an instance of narrating, i.e., telling a story. In the context of MEDICINE or ETHICS, narration includes relating the particular and the personal in the life story of an individual.

Procedures and programs that facilitate the development or skill acquisition in infants and young children who have disabilities, who are at risk for developing disabilities, or who are gifted. It includes programs that are designed to prevent handicapping conditions in infants and young children and family-centered programs designed to affect the functioning of infants and children with special needs. (From Journal of Early Intervention, Editorial, 1989, vol. 13, no. 1, p. 3; A Discursive Dictionary of Health Care, prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, 1976)

The act or fact of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of; understanding. (American Heritage Dictionary, 4th ed) Includes understanding by a patient or research subject of information disclosed orally or in writing.

A verbal or nonverbal means of communicating ideas or feelings.

Partial hearing loss in both ears.

Skills in the use of language which lead to proficiency in written or spoken communication.

Wearable sound-amplifying devices that are intended to compensate for impaired hearing. These generic devices include air-conduction hearing aids and bone-conduction hearing aids. (UMDNS, 1999)

Any observable response or action of a neonate or infant up through the age of 23 months.

The ability or act of sensing and transducing ACOUSTIC STIMULATION to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. It is also called audition.

The transmission and reproduction of transient images of fixed or moving objects. An electronic system of transmitting such images together with sound over a wire or through space by apparatus that converts light and sound into electrical waves and reconverts them into visible light rays and audible sound. (From Webster, 3rd ed)

Severe distortions in the development of many basic psychological functions that are not normal for any stage in development. These distortions are manifested in sustained social impairment, speech abnormalities, and peculiar motor movements.

Intellectual or mental process whereby an organism obtains knowledge.

Behavioral manifestations of cerebral dominance in which there is preferential use and superior functioning of either the left or the right side, as in the preferred use of the right hand or right foot.

Any observable response or action of a child from 24 months through 12 years of age. For neonates or children younger than 24 months, INFANT BEHAVIOR is available.

The interactions between parent and child.

The ability to learn and to deal with new situations and to deal effectively with tasks involving abstractions.

Studies in which variables relating to an individual or group of individuals are assessed over a period of time.

The study of normal and abnormal behavior of children.

A research and development program initiated by the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE to build knowledge sources for the purpose of aiding the development of systems that help health professionals retrieve and integrate biomedical information. The knowledge sources can be used to link disparate information systems to overcome retrieval problems caused by differences in terminology and the scattering of relevant information across many databases. The three knowledge sources are the Metathesaurus, the Semantic Network, and the Specialist Lexicon.

Interaction between a mother and child.

Performance of complex motor acts.

Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent.

An infant during the first month after birth.

Tests designed to assess neurological function associated with certain behaviors. They are used in diagnosing brain dysfunction or damage and central nervous system disorders or injury.

A discipline concerned with relations between messages and the characteristics of individuals who select and interpret them; it deals directly with the processes of encoding (phonetics) and decoding (psychoacoustics) as they relate states of messages to states of communicators.

A human infant born before 37 weeks of GESTATION.

Age as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or the effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from AGING, a physiological process, and TIME FACTORS which refers only to the passage of time.

The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.

Use of sound to elicit a response in the nervous system.

The artificial language of schizophrenic patients - neologisms (words of the patient's own making with new meanings).

Those factors, such as language or sociocultural relationships, which interfere in the meaningful interpretation and transmission of ideas between individuals or groups.

Educational attainment or level of education of individuals.

The consequences of exposing the FETUS in utero to certain factors, such as NUTRITION PHYSIOLOGICAL PHENOMENA; PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS; DRUGS; RADIATION; and other physical or chemical factors. These consequences are observed later in the offspring after BIRTH.

Disturbances in mental processes related to learning, thinking, reasoning, and judgment.

The continuous developmental process of a culture from simple to complex forms and from homogeneous to heterogeneous qualities.

Studies which start with the identification of persons with a disease of interest and a control (comparison, referent) group without the disease. The relationship of an attribute to the disease is examined by comparing diseased and non-diseased persons with regard to the frequency or levels of the attribute in each group.

Conversion from one language to another language.

Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures.

The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.

Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.

Non-invasive method of demonstrating internal anatomy based on the principle that atomic nuclei in a strong magnetic field absorb pulses of radiofrequency energy and emit them as radiowaves which can be reconstructed into computerized images. The concept includes proton spin tomographic techniques.

Dominance of one cerebral hemisphere over the other in cerebral functions.

Studies in which individuals or populations are followed to assess the outcome of exposures, procedures, or effects of a characteristic, e.g., occurrence of disease.

A language dysfunction characterized by the inability to name people and objects that are correctly perceived. The individual is able to describe the object in question, but cannot provide the name. This condition is associated with lesions of the dominant hemisphere involving the language areas, in particular the TEMPORAL LOBE. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p484)

The terms, expressions, designations, or symbols used in a particular science, discipline, or specialized subject area.

Disorders of the quality of speech characterized by the substitution, omission, distortion, and addition of phonemes.