Document Type
Essay
Publication Date
2025
Abstract
Research has demonstrated that adolescents with developmental language disorder (AWDLD) perform more poorly compared to typically developing peers on measures of narrative production.This limitation may not only impact education and social life, but also possibly post-traumatic stress recovery, as Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) involves a Trauma Narrative production activity (D’Amico et al., 2022). A limited amount of research has been conducted on adapting TF-CBT for children with intellectual disability, developmental disabilities, and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (D’Amico et al., 2022; Anderson & Cook, 2015). However, there is currently no available research explicitly addressing how TF-CBT can be individualized to meet the unique needs of AWDLD. The aim of this pilot study is to identify specific barriers and accommodations for AWDLD given the Trauma Narrative task embedded within TF-CBT. Systematic literature review and expert interviews with mental health professionals and speech language pathologists were conducted and analyzed to develop a preliminary summary of barriers and solutions. Results indicate 8 barriers and 15 recommendations as reported by systematic literature review, as well as 21 barriers and 50 recommendations as reported by expert interviews. The purpose of this pilot study is to provide the foundation for future studies which will evaluate the efficacy of modifications/accommodations to TF-CBT for AWDLD with the long-term goal of developing consensus guidelines for the use of the TF-CBT Trauma Narrative activity with AWDLD.
Recommended Citation
Fillet, Lauren A., "1st Place Research Paper: Increasing the Accessibility of Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) for Adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder: A Pilot Study" (2025). Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Library Research Prize. 8.
https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/scandrett_graduate_library_research_prize/8
Included in
Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons, Other Mental and Social Health Commons, Other Psychiatry and Psychology Commons, Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons
Comments
Lauren Fillet won First Place in the 2024 Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Library Research Prize for her essay about how evidence-based interventions and therapeutic techniques can be modified or supplemented in order to ensure that the benefits of these approaches are maximally accessible to those who struggle with communication. This essay is the original scholarship that emerged from that research. It was submitted as a Master's capstone project to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The intended audience is speech-language pathologists and mental health professionals who serve adolescent clients with a history of psychological trauma.