Dr. Beverly Anne Collisson

My research focuses on the mechanisms underlying language impairment, late talking toddlers, and clinical management of children with primary language impairment.  

My primary lines of investigation include, 1) risk factors, clinical markers, and long term outcomes of toddlers who are late to talk, and 2) the relationships between typical and atypical language learning and cognitive abilities such as those of perception, attention, and memory. Given the heterogeneity of linguistic and nonlinguistic strengths and weaknesses in children with primary language impairment, I am interested in understanding what cognitive or linguistic abilities predict those individual differences. A better understanding of the causal mechanisms that contribute to language learning impairment provides the foundation for the development of more detailed and focused interventions for these children.