Improving Online Therapy: Insights from Research on Reversible Sentences

Online therapy services, like those provided by TinyEYE, are a vital resource for schools looking to support students with specific language impairments (SLI). A recent study titled "Training understanding of reversible sentences: a study comparing language-impaired children with age-matched and grammar-matched controls" offers valuable insights that can help practitioners improve their skills and better support these students.

In this study, researchers Hsu and Bishop (2014) investigated how children with SLI understand reversible sentences, such as "the ball is above the cup." They compared the performance of children with SLI to typically developing children matched for age and grammar skills. The study found that children with SLI often struggle with these sentences due to weak verbal short-term memory.

Here are some key findings and recommendations from the study:

• Repetition Helps: Children with SLI showed better comprehension when they were repeatedly exposed to the same sentences. This suggests that repeated exposure can help solidify understanding and improve performance.
• Memory Span Matters: The study found that a child's memory span was a significant predictor of improvement. This highlights the importance of incorporating memory-strengthening activities into therapy sessions.
• Generalization Challenges: While training improved comprehension of specific sentences, it did not significantly enhance performance on standardized tests of receptive grammar. This indicates that generalization to new contexts may require additional strategies.

Practitioners can apply these findings by:

• Using repetitive training methods to reinforce sentence structures.
• Incorporating memory-enhancing exercises into therapy sessions.
• Focusing on a small, familiar vocabulary before introducing new words.

These strategies can help children with SLI build a stronger foundation in language comprehension, ultimately leading to better academic and social outcomes.

For those interested in diving deeper into this research, further exploration and application of these findings can be beneficial. Understanding the specific challenges and effective strategies for children with SLI can enhance the quality of online therapy services provided by companies like TinyEYE.

To read the original research paper, please follow this link: Training understanding of reversible sentences: a study comparing language-impaired children with age-matched and grammar-matched controls.