I am interested in the behavioral development of individuals with intellectual disabilities and the ways in which that development influences, and is influenced by, the family context. Since coming to the Waisman Center, my research has focused primarily on the development of language in individuals with intellectual disabilities, especially their ability to use language to participate actively in social discourse. My students and I have studied the development of a variety of discourse behaviors, including the use of context to make decisions about what a sentence means and what form a message should take, the ability to repair of misunderstandings, and the tracking of the shared information that evolves over the course of the discourse.

Currently, my students and I are engaged in research on the development of language in individuals with fragile X syndrome, which is the leading inherited cause of intellectual disabilities. We are conducting a longitudinal study of language development with a goal of following 100 affected males and females between the ages of 10 and 18 years. The project is designed to provide a comprehensive description of the course of development in several critical dimensions of language and to identify the environmental and individual psychological and biological factors that shape this development. We also are attempting to distinguish between those aspects of the developmental trajectories and patterns we observe that are specific to fragile X syndrome and those that are shared by individuals with other etiologies, such as Down syndrome. We anticipate that this research will provide insights into the mechanisms that drive typical as well as atypical language development and will lead to recommendations for conducting assessment and intervention in ways that are better matched to the unique needs of individuals with fragile X syndrome.

We also have begun research to examine possible bi-directional influences between parental emotional well-being and the behavioral challenges and competencies of the child with fragile X syndrome. The basic idea is that the child’s behavioral challenges can create stress for parents and that that this stress may make it difficult for some parents to accommodate to their child’s diverse needs, thereby creating a downward spiral for parent and child. We expect that this research will lead to methods of identifying families at risk and to recommendations for ways in which we can support parents to ensure the optimal development of their sons and daughters with fragile X syndrome.