KIND: Communication Disorders

Time limit: 360 days

The KIND Communication Disorders Chapter provides a thorough exploration of communication disorders, addressing foundational topics such as normal language development and epidemiology, and advancing through specific disorders like speech sound and fluency issues. Key topics include red flags for language disorders, bilingual assessment considerations, and strategies for optimizing language development. Tailored for allied and medical professionals, the course emphasizes practical application, culminating in an interactive case scenario that allows learners to apply their skills in assessing and managing communication disorders in real-world settings.

The Communication Disorders Chapter spans 20 topics across five levels of instruction. Levels 1 and 2 provide foundational knowledge beneficial for medical professionals and allied professionals, including educators, social workers, therapists, and psychologists. Levels 3 to 5 shift to a more clinical focus, offering advanced insights geared toward medical doctors and sub-specialists.

The table below outlines the complete chapter content.

Chapter Editor

Dr. Mary L. O'Connor Leppert, MD, BCh is a neurodevelopmental pediatrician in the Department of Neurology and Developmental Medicine at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Dr. Leppert is also the Division Director of Developmental Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Leppert's focus is on the education on neurodevelopmental disorders. She is the founder and director of the Teaching Excellence in Neuro Development (TEND) program, the director of Kennedy Krieger Project ECHO and is the chief editor of the Kennedy Krieger Instruction in Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND) curriculum. In addition, Dr. Leppert is an associate professor of pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Content, Featured Experts, and Learner Groups

Level	Neurodevelopmental Topic Content	Featured Expert	Learner Group(s)
Level 1	1.1 Communication Disorders and Vocabulary	Mary Leppert, MB, BCH	Allied professionals Medical Professionals Sub-Specialist Professionals
	1.2 Epidemiology of Communication Disorders	Mary Leppert, MB, BCH
	1.3 Normal Language Development	Mihee Bay, MD
Level 2	2.1 Red Flags for Language Disorders	Mihee Bay, MD	Allied professionals Medical Professionals Sub-Specialist Professionals
	2.2 Speech Sound Disorders Defined	Wendy A. Jennejahn, M.S., CCC-SLP
	2.3 Mixed Receptive and Expressive Disorders	Mary Leppert, MB BCH
	2.4 Expressive Language Disorders	Mary Leppert, MB BCH
	2.5 Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder Defined	Kate Smidl, MS, CCC-SLP
	2.6 Fluency Disorders Defined	Kate Smidl, MS, CCC-SLP
Level 3	3.1 Considerations in Taking a History of Language Impairment	Mary Leppert, MB BCH	Medical Professionals Sub-Specialist Professionals
	3.2 Oral Motor Evaluation in a Child with Speech Sound Disorder	Wendy A. Jennejahn, M.S., CCC-SLP
	3.3 Office Assessment of Speech and Language	Mary Leppert, MB BCH
	3.4 Language Assessment Considerations in Simultaneously Bilingual Children	Amber Surveski, MS, CCC-SLP
	3.5 Speech and Language Pathology Assessment Measures	Kate Smidl, MS, CCC-SLP
	3.6 Social Pragmatic Language Assessment	Kate Smidl, MS, CCC-SLP
Level 4	4.1 Optimizing Language Development	Mary Leppert, MB BCH	Medical Professionals Sub-Specialist Professionals
	4.2 Prescribing Speech and Language Services	Amber Surveski, MS, CCC-SLP
	4.3 Social Pragmatic Communication Training	Kate Smidl, MS, CCC-SLP
	4.4 Disorders Associated with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)	Mary Leppert, MB BCH
Level 5	5.1 Outcomes of Speech and Language Disorders	Mary Leppert, MB BCH	Medical Professionals Sub-Specialist Professionals
Case Study	Interactive Case Scenario	N/A	All Learners

What is the KIND Curriculum?

Terms of Use & Privacy Policy

The Terms of Use and Privacy Policy set forth on the Kennedy Krieger Institute website apply to any and all uses of and access to this site and the content found here.

The learning materials contained in the KIND Curriculum (“Learning Materials”) include publicly available medical evidence, expert opinion, and the experiential knowledge of the subject matter experts identified in the KIND Curriculum.

The Learning Materials are intended only to provide general information and need to be adapted for individualized patient care based on each practitioners’ professional judgment, unique patient circumstances, and other pertinent factors. The Learning Materials are not intended to constitute general medical advice or treatment or advice or treatment for any particular patient. The Learning Materials are not intended to create a doctor-patient relationship between/among Kennedy Krieger Institute, its physicians and individual patients or their family members or caregivers. Kennedy Krieger Institute makes no warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the currency, completeness, applicability, or accuracy of the Learning Materials.

To the extent that the Learning Materials include information regarding drug dosing, every effort will be made to identify when drug or medical device information included in the Learning Materials is not in agreement with FDA approval or guidance. However, it is the responsibility of the practitioner to ascertain FDA dosing recommendations and approval status of prescribed drugs and devices in their clinical practices.

Kennedy Krieger Institute and its employees and agents are not responsible for errors or omissions in the Learning Materials. Each professional practitioner caring for a patient is solely and exclusively responsible for the patient care of such patient.

The Learning Materials are protected by copyright laws and in some cases patent laws, and all rights are reserved under such laws. No part of the Learning Materials may be reproduced in any form by any means, or utilized in any other way, absent prior written permission from the copyright owner.

Full course description

Chapter Editor

Content, Featured Experts, and Learner Groups

What is the KIND Curriculum?