ERIC Number: EJ1484231
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-2822
EISSN: EISSN-1460-6984
Available Date: 2025-07-28
Making Research Accessible to the Developmental Language Disorder Community: A Mixed Methods Study Using the Nominal Group Technique
Emily Jackson1; Janice Wijaya1; Sanjana Bhatoolaul1; Qi Xun Tan1; Suze Leitão1
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, v60 n5 e70096 2025
Background: Accessing research can be difficult for individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) and their supporting networks (e.g., family, speech-language therapists, and teachers). This challenge may be attributable to the DLD community's difficulty with searching and paying for scientific research and the complexity of language used in dissemination methods such as journal articles. It is important that members of the DLD community can access and understand research to facilitate the community's involvement in research and as a key part of building knowledge of DLD. To date, no studies have explored the DLD community's perspectives on their preferences for accessing and understanding research. Aims: This mixed methods study aimed to explore the DLD community's perspectives on how researchers can make their findings more accessible. Methods and Procedures: An international group of parents of children with DLD (including one parent who also had DLD) and a speech-language therapist (n = 9) participated in a nominal group technique process to share their perspectives. The group identified a range of methods that researchers could use to make DLD research more accessible to the community, which they discussed in depth and then ranked in order of preference. Consensus ranking analysis was used to identify preferred methods for research dissemination. The ranking exercise was supplemented by in-depth discussions about research accessibility, which were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Outcomes and Results: Participants identified plain language summaries, flyers, infographics, and short videos as their preferred formats for making scientific research accessible to the DLD community. Qualitative analyses highlighted four main categories of recommendations for researchers, including the use of text-based, visual (static), and multimedia (dynamic) approaches, as well as recommendations for making language adjustments and involving the DLD community in disseminating research findings. Conclusions and Implications: This study will help researchers better understand the DLD community's needs, enabling more effective dissemination of their findings to those most impacted by the research. In return, research findings are more likely to be translated into a form that the community can understand.
Descriptors: Developmental Disabilities, Language Impairments, Information Dissemination, Access to Information, Scientific Research, Preferences, Comprehension, Language Usage, Pamphlets, Visual Aids, Video Technology, Information Sources, Information Skills
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia

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