University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Speech & Language

How speaking is a lot like playing darts

Winning a game of darts requires being accurate. A player who can pick a spot on the board, focus their mind, and execute the specific motor action needed to land the bullseye will win the game. And if they miss, well, practice makes perfect.

New gift to support research and training

A new estate gift will help support research and expand undergraduate and graduate student training in the area of intellectual and developmental disabilities at the Waisman Center. This significant gift – more than $1 million from the estate of Genevieve Lyda – establishes the Lyda Family Fund, a permanent endowment for the Waisman Center. Genevieve …

Expecting to learn: Language acquisition in toddlers improved by predictable situations

In an upcoming study in Current Biology, published online Aug. 16, researchers at the Arizona State University Department of Psychology and the Waisman Center report a factor that is important for language learning in children: the predictability of the learning environment.

Using artificial intelligence for a big impact on neurodevelopmental research

Arezoo Movaghar earned her master’s degree in computer science and artificial intelligence. She built models based on the plentiful data found in medical records. So, when she came to UW–Madison as a PhD student and joined a research group, it surprised Movaghar to find out just how much data researchers in other fields collect.

Study offers first look at how children with cerebral palsy develop language skills

A new study of children with cerebral palsy could help ease the speech and language challenges many of these children face as they get older.

Study led by Waisman investigator Maureen Durkin selected as one of the top advances in autism research in 2017

A multi-institution study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) led by Maureen Durkin, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Waisman Center, has been selected as one of the top advances in 2017 ASD research by the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. Among the study’s findings was that children living in neighborhoods where incomes are low and fewer …

Down Syndrome Clinic helps Jackie Cleveland keep dancing

Brown eyes afire and colorful skirt awhirl, Jackie Cleveland has been dancing since she could walk. Now in sixth-grade, Jackie, who has Down syndrome, performs at Native American pow wows across the country, dancing traditional Ho-Chunk dances with style and unabashed joy.

Here is how a cat can hinder children learning new words

Say you are shown an apple, a banana and a fruit you have never seen before. Then you are asked to pick the “pifo.” Which fruit would you choose? Chances are you would select the novel fruit.

Moving forward in the search for genetic clues to understand autism

There’s a saying in the autism community: If you have met one person with autism, you have met one person with autism. That’s because “as the name implies, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exists on a spectrum with a wide range of symptoms, skills and levels of severity with which it impacts a person’s daily life,” …

Machine learning can detect a genetic disorder from speech recordings

How much information can we extract from a five-minute recording of someone talking? Enough to tell whether that individual may be genetically predisposed to some health complications, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Waisman Center and Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. In a new study published this month in Scientific Reports, the researchers used …