SPARC Research Collaboration

The arts have increasingly been incorporated into Speech-Language Pathology practices to increase engagement and positive gains across multiple language domains.  

Speech, Language, and Communication Disorders 

Children who have speech, language, and/or communication disorders may experience difficulties with expressive and receptive language, as well as the formation of speech sounds, pragmatic and social language usage, and cognitive organization and representation of their thoughts.  According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, speech disorders involve difficulties producing sounds correctly or fluently, such as issues with articulation or stuttering.  Language disorders refer to challenges either in understanding what others say (receptive language) or in expressing thoughts through spoken or written language (expressive language).  Communication disorders include both speech and language disorders, as well as hearing-related difficulties (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1993).  It's estimated that between 9 and 13% of the population suffers from speech, language, and/or communication disorders (Léger-Goodes et al., 2024). 

Arts-Based Interventions

Arts-based interventions can offer unique advantages when implemented with children and adolescents with language disorders.  Arts-based approaches provide a creative alternative or add-on to traditional therapy.  These methods help promote a sense of agency and encourage kids to express their ideas, emotions, and creativity, while connecting with peers in a supportive context.  Utilizing peer-group settings can further support gains in peer support, self-regulation, and cooperation.  For both the children experiencing difficulties and the peers included as supports, the group setting may increase rates of self-acceptance and acceptance of others.  Art approaches can help reduce resistance to therapy and can promote attention skills.  They offer a flexible alternative that can be tailored to age and ability levels, with clinicians designing practices with the children they serve in mind.  Arts-based interventions hold significant promise for promoting inclusion and social participation for children with deficits (Léger-Goodes et al., 2024). 

Specifically, children who have more complex communication needs that necessitate the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) benefit from collaborative learning with arts-based activities to help facilitate social interactions with peers (Boster et al., 2022).