The main focus of NeuroD-WELL is the early development of language in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, or at risk of developing language impairments due to familial risk or other risk factors. It is known that language deficits occur in a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders, as in intellectual disabilities, language disorder, social communication disorder, or autism spectrum disorder. However, little is known about early emerging language abilities and their development in these groups of children, including at-risk groups. We are thus interested in infants’ and toddlers’ language perception and learning abilities at the 1st and 2nd years of life, and how they relate to language abilities in low risk, typical development peers, as well as to later language development.
NeuroD-WELL aims at bringing together researchers and practitioners working on language development and neurodevelopmental disorders, from a multidisciplinary perspective (Clinical Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Linguistics, Neurolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, Psychiatry, Psychology, Speech and Hearing Sciences, Speech Therapy, among others). It builds on WELL, the first Workshop on Early Language - Lisbon, also hosted by the University of Lisbon.
The workshop is funded by the Horizon 21 – Early Language Development in Down Syndrome project, as well the PLOs - Predictors of Language Outcomes project and the Lisbon Baby Lab (Center of Linguistics, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon). A special session is planned for discussion of findings from the Horizon 21 project.
Abstract submission will be open through August 30, 2019.