Dr. Benham’s research focuses on phonological and lexical development in children with and without speech and language disorders. In her lab, she uses an array of methods to analyze speech sound production such as phonetic transcription, acoustic analyses, and motion tracking, as well as methods from network science to detect principles of word and sound organization in the developing child.

The long-term objective of Dr. Benham’s research program is to understand the contributions of speech, language, and motor skills that support children’s individual pathways when learning to produce new sounds and words. This information is vital for the discovery of markers of atypical sound and word learning skills. Ultimately, Dr. Benham seeks to contribute to the early identification and treatment of children who struggle with word and sound learning, such as children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and children with speech sound disorders (SSD).