Many factors influence an individual’s speech and language—including genetics. New technologies have recently made investigating the genetic origins of various disorders possible, and these exciting breakthroughs have real-world implications!
The Research Symposium presented at last year’s ASHA Convention provided ASHA’s clinicians and researchers with the latest updates on genetics in communication sciences and disorders. A forum from Guest Editor Dr. Beate Peter aims to bring highlights of this symposium to readers of the ASHA Journals. Read more below!
Genetics in Communication Sciences and Disorders
The forum begins with an introduction by Peter. She writes that the research symposium, and the forum it inspired, show how genotype and phenotype associations can be translated into clinical practice.
Fisher discusses how new technologies are helping researchers understand the biological sources of spoken and written language—and what this could mean for you. Next, Lewis and colleagues share the results of a 25-year study on speech-sound disorders, looking at how genetic variants affect speech and language.
Pruett et al. review genetic data of individuals who stutter, highlighting the need for further genetic research in stuttering. Then, Dobrynin and colleagues identify 175 genes that are relevant to written language ability and examine how they’re expressed in the brain.
The forum ends with an article by Peter et al. highlighting how genetics translates into clinical practice. The authors introduce the concept of precision medicine—an approach where an individual’s genetic, environmental, and lifestyle-related factors are all taken into account.
Scratching the Surface
In her introduction, Peter suggests that between the brain’s 86 billion neurons and the body’s 20,000 genes, this research is just scratching the surface of what’s possible. However, she writes that “we celebrate every successful genetic discovery and the precision interventions it inspires” (Peter, p. 5103).
We hope that this forum has inspired you to learn more about genetics and what these findings mean to your work in the clinic. You can read the entire forum in the latest issue of JSLHR, or explore the individual articles below.
Explore the Forum
Dobrynin, P., Zeng, Y., Norkina, M., Fedorova, A., Zhuk, A., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2025). Four decades of inquiry into the genetic bases of specific reading disability. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(10), 5158–5173. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00050
Fisher, S. E. (2025). Genomic investigations of spoken and written language abilities: A guide to advances in approaches, technologies, and discovery. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(10), 5104–5121. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00152
Lewis, B. A., Miller, G. J., Benchek, P., Stein, C., & Iyengar, S. K. (2025). The Cleveland Family Speech and Reading Study: A review of long-term outcomes linking phenotypes and genotypes for speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(10), 5122–5136. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00052
Peter, B. (2025). Deciphering the language in our DNA and leveraging the discoveries toward improved outcomes: Introduction to the forum. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(10), 5101–5103. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00681
Peter, B., Davis, J., Bruce, L., Finestack, L., Kornelis, M., Eng, L., Kim, Y., Scherer, N., Potter, N., VanDam, M., Thompson, L., Loveall, S., Stoel-Gammon, C., Raaz, C., Armstrong-Heimsoth, A., & Buckley, S. (2025). Translating the power of precision medicine into the world of communication disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(10), 5174–5189. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00077
Pruett, D. G., Scartozzi, A. C., Polikowsky, H. G., Highland, H. M., Shaw, D. M., Petty, L. E., Petty, A. S., Kraft, S. J., & Below, J. E. (2025). Challenges and opportunities in characterizing the genetics of stuttering: From sample acquisition to functional interpretation of the genome. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 68(10), 5137–5157. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00093
