Glossary

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Babbling(also: Canonical Babbling, Prelinguistic Vocalization)

The repetitive, syllable-like vocalizations produced by infants typically between 6 and 12 months of age as a precursor to spoken language. Babbling progresses through developmental stages from simple vowel-like sounds (cooing) to reduplicated sequences like "bababa" and…

Canonical Syllable(also: Canonical Babbling, Well-Formed Syllable)

A canonical syllable is a well-formed syllable in infant babbling that consists of a consonant-like closure (closant) produced by an oral cavity constriction followed by a vowel-like opening (vocant). Canonical syllables typically appear between 5 and 10 months of age in the…

Cerebral Visual Impairment(also: CVI, Cortical Visual Impairment)

Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is an umbrella term for visual deficits resulting from damage to the brain rather than the eyes. It affects visual perception, including visual acuity, cortical image processing, and pattern recognition. CVI is often associated with additional…

Child Agency

Child agency is a child's capacity to initiate, shape, direct, and sustain activities - including play, conversation, and social interaction - rather than passively accepting adult or peer control. In accessibility research for children, agency is recognised as relational and…

Developmental Apraxia of Speech(also: Childhood Apraxia of Speech, CAS, DAS)

A motor speech disorder in which children have difficulty planning and coordinating the movements needed for speech, despite having no muscle weakness. Children with developmental apraxia of speech know what they want to say but their brains have difficulty coordinating the…

Dyspraxia(also: Developmental Coordination Disorder, DCD)

A neurodevelopmental condition affecting motor planning, coordination, and the sequencing of movements. People with dyspraxia have difficulty translating intended actions into coordinated physical movements, despite having adequate muscle strength and understanding of what they…

Early Intervention(also: EI, Early Childhood Intervention)

Services and support provided to infants and young children (typically birth to age 3 or 5) with developmental delays or disabilities, and their families. For DHH children, early intervention is critical and includes sign language instruction, speech-language therapy,…

Early Intervention(also: EI, Early Childhood Intervention)

Early intervention refers to services and supports provided to infants and young children (typically from birth to age six) who have developmental delays, disabilities, or conditions that place them at risk for developmental difficulties. The aim is to reduce or compensate for…

Emergent Literacy(also: Early Literacy, Pre-literacy)

The developmental process through which young children (typically birth through age 5) acquire foundational skills and concepts about reading and writing before formal instruction begins. For sighted children, picture books and illustrations play a crucial role by providing…

Family-Centered Learning(also: Family-Centered Education)

An educational approach that actively involves family members in the learning process, recognizing that home environments and family participation significantly impact learning outcomes, often more than school-based interventions alone. In the context of DHH children,…

Incidental Learning(also: Observational Learning, Informal Learning)

Knowledge and skills acquired without deliberate instruction, typically through casual observation of the environment and other people. An estimated 80% of early childhood learning occurs incidentally through vision — watching how others make sandwiches, navigate social…

Infant-Computer Interaction(also: Baby-Computer Interaction)

The design and study of technology interfaces intended for use by infants, typically under 24 months of age. Infant-computer interaction presents unique challenges compared to other user populations because infants cannot be instructed, cannot provide explicit feedback about…

Language Deprivation(also: Linguistic Deprivation)

The condition that occurs when children do not receive sufficient accessible language input during critical developmental periods, leading to atypical neural development, cognitive delays, and lifelong mental health challenges. DHH children in hearing families who do not use…

Language-Based Learning Impairment(also: LLI, Language Learning Impairment, Language Learning Disability)

A developmental condition in which children have difficulty acquiring language and later reading skills while other cognitive abilities appear relatively intact. Language-based learning impairments affect an estimated 20% of preschool and school-aged children, and more than 50%…

Multiple Cue Responding(also: MCR)

The ability to observe and attend to multiple features of a stimulus simultaneously (such as colour, shape, and size) and use all of those features to make decisions. Multiple cue responding is a foundational cognitive skill that typically develops around age three or four and…

Operant Conditioning(also: Instrumental Conditioning, Operant Learning)

A learning process in which behaviour is modified by its consequences — specifically, by reinforcement (rewards that increase the likelihood of the behaviour) or punishment (consequences that decrease it). In accessibility research and clinical assessment, operant conditioning…

Peer Culture

Peer culture is the body of shared understandings, values, social norms, communication practices, and play conventions that children co-construct among themselves through daily interaction - distinct from the adult culture that surrounds them. It defines who can join play, how…

Peripersonal Space(also: Near space, Reaching space)

The area immediately surrounding the body that is within arm's reach, typically extending about 60-70 cm from the body. Peripersonal space is significant in accessibility because blind and visually impaired children often have delayed development of spatial awareness within this…

Phonological Development(also: Speech Sound Development, Phonological Acquisition)

The process by which children learn to produce and organise the speech sounds of their language, progressing from early cooing and vowel-like sounds through canonical babbling (consonant-vowel syllables) to recognisable words and complex phonological patterns. Phonological…

Pivotal Response Training(also: PRT, Pivotal Response Treatment)

A naturalistic, child-initiated behavioural intervention developed for children with autism that targets "pivotal" skills — foundational abilities whose improvement produces widespread positive changes across social, communication, and academic domains. Unlike highly structured…

Pre-speech Vocalizations(also: Pre-linguistic Vocalizations, Infant Vocalizations)

Sounds produced by infants before the development of recognizable speech, including cooing, babbling, and other vocal productions. Pre-speech vocalizations are important predictors of later articulation and language abilities, and their analysis can help identify children at…

Prelinguistic Development(also: Pre-Speech Development, Prelinguistic Communication)

Prelinguistic development refers to the stages of vocal and communicative development that occur before an infant produces meaningful words, typically spanning from birth to approximately 12-18 months. This development progresses through recognized stages: the Phonation Stage…

Rapid Auditory Processing(also: RAP, Auditory Temporal Processing)

The ability to perceive and process rapidly changing auditory signals that occur within tens of milliseconds, such as the rapid frequency and amplitude transitions that characterise speech sounds. Rapid auditory processing is a fundamental skill for language acquisition, as…

Sensory Based Motor Disorder(also: SBMD)

A subtype of Sensory Processing Disorder in which the brain has difficulty using sensory information to plan and execute motor actions. SBMD encompasses two sub-types: postural disorder, which affects balance and core stability, and dyspraxia, which impacts motor planning and…

Sensory Processing Disorder(also: SPD, Sensory Integration Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfunction)

A condition in which the brain has difficulty receiving, organizing, and responding to sensory information from the environment and the body. People with Sensory Processing Disorder may be oversensitive or undersensitive to sensory input — including touch, sound, light,…

Social Attention(also: Social Orienting)

The set of behaviours, motivations, and perceptual processes involved in directing and coordinating attention toward other people during social interaction. Social attention includes orienting toward others, maintaining awareness of their position and gaze direction, and using…

Social Play

Social play is intrinsically motivated, voluntary activity between two or more children that has no purpose beyond itself, yet is essential to emotional, cognitive, and social development. Developmental researchers categorise it along two axes: social level (Parten's six stages…

Specific Language Impairment(also: SLI, Developmental Language Disorder)

A neurodevelopmental condition characterised by significant difficulties in acquiring and using language that cannot be attributed to hearing loss, intellectual disability, neurological damage, or environmental deprivation. Children with specific language impairment may have…

Speech Delay(also: Language Delay, Delayed Speech)

A condition in which a child does not develop speech and language skills at the expected rate for their age. Speech delay can affect the production of sounds (articulation), the ability to form words and sentences (expressive language), or the understanding of language…

Vocal Development(also: Speech Development, Vocal Production Development)

The process by which individuals acquire and refine the ability to produce speech sounds and vocalizations. In typically developing children, vocal development progresses through stages from cooing and babbling to first words and complex speech. For children with autism spectrum…

Vocalization Analysis(also: Vocal Analysis, Infant Vocalization Analysis)

Vocalization analysis is the systematic study and measurement of vocal productions, including speech, pre-speech sounds, and non-speech vocalizations. In developmental and clinical contexts, vocalization analysis involves recording, digitizing, and examining acoustic features of…

31 results.