Pamela Hadley, Ph.D.
- Professor, Department Head, Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois
Contact Info
Personal Links
Biography —
Professor Hadley teaches language development and language disorders in early childhood. Her research examines the nature of specific language impairment (SLI) in early childhood, a high incidence condition characterized by extraordinary difficulty with language acquisition in the presence of otherwise typical development.
Education —
Selected Publications —
Krok, W., Norton, E. S., Buchheit, M. K., Harriot, E., Wakschlag, L., & Hadley, P. (2022). Using animated action scenes to remotely assess sentence diversity in toddlers. Topics in Language Disorders, 42, 156-172.
Preza, T., & Hadley, P. (2022). Parent Responsivity, Language input and the development of simple sentences. Journal of Child Language, Epub ahead of print. 1-27. doi:10.1017/S0305000922000459
Clark-Whitney, E., Klein, C., Hadley, P., Lord, C., & Kim, S. H. (2022). Caregiver Language Input Supports Sentence Diversity in Minimally Verbal Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing Research, 65, 1465-1477.
Hadley, P. (2020). Exploring sentence diversity at the boundary of typical and impaired language abilities. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63, 3236-3251. PMID: 33064603
Rispoli, M., & Hadley, P. (2020). Proceduralization and grammatical development: Comments on “Speech-language development as proceduralization and skill learning” (Kamhi, 2019). Journal of Communication Disorders, 83, 105947.
Hsu, N., Rispoli, M., & Hadley, P. (2019). Mastering the grammar of complex events: Evidence from Mandarin resultative verb compounds. Language Learning and Development, 15:3, 255-277. doi: 10.1080/15475441.2019.1590204
Hadley, P., McKenna, M., & Rispoli, M. (2018). Sentence diversity in early language development: Recommendations for target selection and progress monitoring. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 27, 553-565. PMID: 29497741
Rispoli, M., Hadley, P., & Simmons, H. (2018). Simple sentences aren’t all the same: Variation in Input and Acquisition. In A. Bertolini & M. Kaplan (Eds.) BUCLD 42: Proceedings of the 42nd annual Boston University Conference on Language Development Proceedings (pp. 673-686). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Selected Presentations —
Hadley, P. (2021, February). Early Language Assessment and Intervention in a Sentence-Focused Framework. Invited presentation to the Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention, Rosemont, IL (virtual, pre-recorded).
Hadley, P. (2019, November). Sentence diversity in toddlers at risk for specific language impairment. 2019 Research Symposium Advances in Specific Language Impairment, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Orlando, FL.
Hadley, P. (2018, June). Predictors of grammatical growth. Early Identification of Children with Speech and Language Disorders Conference, Shanghai Pubin Children’s Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Hadley, P. (2018, June). Monitoring language growth to improve the early identification of developmental language disorders. Pujiang Forum of Pediatric Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Hadley, P. (2015, May). Parent use of toy talk accelerates children’s early sentence diversity. Invited presentation at 2015 Callier Prize Conference Children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI): Structuring language input to improve language learning, Callier Center, Dallas, TX. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfdA0EvA42Y
Awards & Honors —
Big Ten Academic Alliance Departmental Executive Officers (BTAA-DEO) Fellow, 2021
Gonfalon Carrier, New Student Convocation, 2019
Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching Award, College of Applied Health Sciences, 2017
Fellowship of the Association, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2016
Outstanding Teacher of Freshman Faculty Award, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, University of Illinois Chapter, 2011
Editor's Award, Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing, Language, Hadley & Holt, 2006
Mentor, Students Preparing for Academic and Research Careers (SPARC), ASHA 2004, 2013, 2016
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, College of Health and Human Sciences, Northern Illinois University, 2004
Grants & Other Funded Activity —
Govindaraju, V., Kientz, J., Hadley, P., Feil-Seifer, D., Xiong, J. (2023). AI Institute for Transforming Education for Children with Speech and Language Processing Challenges. National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement #2229873. Award: $20,000,000. 01/15/2023-12/31/2027 (estimated). Role: Co-PI.
Norton, E., & Wakschlag, L. (Multiple PIs). When to worry about language study (W2W-L): Joint consideration of developmental patterning and neural substrates for enhancing early identification of language impairment. Hadley, P. (PI, University of Illinois subcontract). National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, R01 DC016273. Total Award: $ 3,936,338; University of Illinois subcontract: $238,474. Duration: 3/1/2018-2/28/2023.
Kaiser, A., Roberts, M, & Hadley, P. (Multiple PIs). Maximizing outcomes for preschoolers with developmental language disorder: Testing the effects of a sequentially targeted naturalistic intervention. National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, U01 DC017135. Total Award Requested: $6,322,542; University of Illinois subcontract: $1,110,890. Duration: 9/1/2018-8/30/2023.
Hahn, L. (PI), & Hadley, P. (Co-I). Impact of child and maternal gestures on word learning in Fragile X Syndrome. National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, R21 DC017800. Award: $454,977. 08/2020-07/31/2023. Role: Co-I.
Krok, W. (Principal Investigator) & Hadley, P. (Mentor). Validating a Sentence Diversity Priming Task as a Dynamic Assessment, Clinical Research Grant: Mentored, ASHFoundation Research Grants. Award: $50,000. 12/01/2021-11/30/2023.
Memberships —
Member, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Member, Illinois Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Member, Society for Research in Child Development
Member, International Association for the Study of Child Language
Member, Sigma Xi
Affiliate, Center for Health, Aging, and Disability, College of Applied Health Sciences, University of Illinois
Affiliate, Center for Social and Behavioral Science, University of Illinois
Affiliate, Department of Linguistics, University of Illinois