Understanding the Biology of Language Impairment through Whole Genome Sequencing

This study excluded individuals with hearing problems, autism spectrum disorder, or any other previously-identified developmental disability. ]]>
This study builds upon a project which originally ran from 1996-2006, aimed at thoroughly describing differences in individuals’ language development across their primary school years, referred to as EpiSLI. This study began with a large scale epidemiological-style study of language ability in kindergarteners across the state of Iowa. This initial study was primarily designed to accurately estimate the occurrence of Specific Language Impairment (SLI) in schoolchildren. A portion of this initial cohort was followed for the remainder of the project and assessed for a variety of language and behavioral traits aimed at describing their scholastic and cognitive ability more broadly. DNA samples were collected from some of these subjects, forming the cohort sequenced in this study. ]]>

本研究排除了存在听力障碍、孤独症谱系障碍（Autism Spectrum Disorder）或其他已确诊发育性残疾的个体。
本研究基于一项1996年至2006年开展的前期项目构建而来，该项目旨在全面描述个体在小学阶段的语言发育差异，此项前期项目被命名为EpiSLI。本研究最初以爱荷华州全体幼儿园儿童的语言能力为研究对象，开展了大规模流行病学类研究，其核心设计目标为精准估算学龄儿童中特定语言障碍（Specific Language Impairment, SLI）的患病率。研究对该初始队列中的部分受试者进行了全程追踪直至项目收尾，并针对其多项语言与行为特征展开评估，以更全面地刻画他们的学业与认知能力。研究人员从其中部分受试者体内采集了DNA样本，由此组建了本研究中用于测序的队列。