Speech and language therapy for adolescents in youth justice: A series of empirical single-case studies

Abstract

Background: Adolescents in contact with youth justice are a vulnerable and marginalized group at high risk of developmental language disorder (DLD) and other communication difficulties. Though preliminary studies have demonstrated the benefits of speech and language therapy (SLT) services in youth justice, limited research has empirically tested the efficacy of intervention in these settings. Aims: To evaluate the extent to which intensive, one-to-one language intervention improved the communication skills of incarcerated adolescents with below-average (> 1 SD below the mean) language and/or literacy skills. Methods & Procedures: A series of four empirical single case studies was conducted, ..