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Supporting the Communication Skills of Children who have Experienced Trauma:Best Practices and Outcomes from a Personal Narrative Language Intervention
University of Alberta

Background
Traumatic experiences (e.g., maltreatment, exposure to violence) can be common in childhood, and children with a trauma history have difficulty with language skills at a higher rate than in the general population. These language difficulties can make it hard for children to succeed in school, make friends, and even tell others what they’ve been through. Talking about past personally-experienced events (i.e., personal narratives) may be an important and meaningful language skill for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to support when working with children who have experienced trauma, but there is limited existing research to guide clinical practice.

This research will describe the impact of a personal narrative language intervention on the personal narrative language skills of children (ages 8–12 years) who have experienced trauma. We will also explore the experiences of the parents, caregivers, or family members of the children involved in the intervention. Possible outcomes of the intervention include personal narratives that are easier for listeners to understand. Parent, caregiver, and family experiences may give insight into SLP practices that support children’s communication skills, psychological safety, and resilience. These findings will aid SLPs in their clinical work with children who have experienced trauma, and will lay a foundation for future research.

Roles and Responsibilities
We are looking for adults (18–39 years) with lived experience of childhood trauma to join in an advisory group for this study. Childhood trauma could be abuse, neglect, having a parent who struggled with substance use or mental illness, refugee experiences, exposure to political or community violence, or any other distressing experiences in childhood that impact(ed) your life.

The advisory group will help guide research priorities, study procedures, participant recruitment, interpretation of results, and sharing findings. We want your perspectives on what would make SLP intervention meaningful and safe for children who have experienced trauma and their families.

Time Commitment
Work with patient partners will begin in the spring of 2026. Advisory group meetings will be held online. We hope to conduct 3–4 initial meetings in March–May 2026 to set research priorities and procedures, followed by 4 check-in meetings/year for the next 2–3 years. Each meeting will typically be one hour, and meetings can be scheduled for evenings or weekends as needed.

Compensation/Reimbursement
Compensation will be offered at a rate of $35/hour, according to AbSPORU Patient Engagement Guidelines. Engagement will be primarily virtual, but parking/transit costs will be reimbursed for any in-person components, should they arise.

For more information or to express interest please connect directly with
Tegan Hryciw
tcbecker@ualberta.ca
Phone/Text: 780-817-3025