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Research
Joint attention and parent-child book readingGood language development is an integral component of school readiness and academic achievement.
Research
Robustness, risk and responsivity in early language acquisitionLanguage is a robust developmental phenomenon, characterised by rapid and prodigious growth.
Research
Does cerebral lateralization develop? A study using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound assessingIn the majority of people, language production is lateralized to the left cerebral hemisphere and visuospatial skills to the right.
Research
Maternal Serum Vitamin D Levels During Pregnancy and Offspring Neurocognitive DevelopmentNew research links poor language to lack of Vitamin D in womb.

News & Events
ORIGINS reaches key milestoneORIGINS, a collaboration between The Kids and the Joondalup Health Campus, has achieved a major milestone – recruiting its 1000th family.

The Human Development and Community Wellbeing Team conducts research across the lifespan from conception, childhood, and youth to adulthood and the social determinants that impact and influence outcomes. The team’s focus is on the broader life course of individuals and communities within the family, school, and online environments, and includes economic evaluation of programs and outcomes.
News & Events
Late talking toddlers: new research debunks the mythsNew research findings from the world's largest study predicting children's late language emergence has revealed that parents are not to blame for late talking
Research
Early Vocabulary Development of Australian Indigenous Children: Identifying StrengthsThe current study sought to increase our understanding of the factors involved in the early vocabulary development of Australian Indigenous children.
Research
The Utility of Natural Language Samples for Assessing Communication and Language in Infants Referred with Early Signs of AutismNatural Language Sampling (NLS) offers clear potential for communication and language assessment, where other data might be difficult to interpret. We leveraged existing primary data for 18-month-olds showing early signs of autism, to examine the reliability and concurrent construct validity of NLS-derived measures coded from video-of child language, parent linguistic input, and dyadic balance of communicative interaction-against standardised assessment scores. Using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software and coding conventions, masked coders achieved good-to-excellent inter-rater agreement across all measures.