Identifying children at risk for language impairment: screening of communication at 18 months

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the possibility of identifying children at risk for language impairment based on a new screening instrument to assess communication and language skills at 18 mo of age. Methods: At 18 mo, 58 children were assessed with a screening instrument for communication and language consisting of a professional assessment and a parents' questionnaire. Students of speech and language pathology, well trained in child language assessment, carried out the professional assessment, which was based on observations of play behaviour, interaction and expressive and receptive language skills. Of the 58 children, 43 attended a follow‐up assessment of language skills at 54 mo of age. Results: Nine children were considered to be at risk for language impairment at 18 mo and 10 children were evaluated as being at risk at 54 mo. A significant positive correlation was found between the professional evaluations at 18 mo and the language tests at 54 mo. Verbal comprehension and pretend play correlated significantly with the results on the language tests. Conclusion: A professional screening of communication and language at 18 mo of age is worthwhile for predicting problems in language development. The results further show that language comprehension and pretend play rather than expressive skills should be emphasized.

Parent-rated socio-emotional development in children with language impairment in comparison with typically developed children

“…A temporal link between language and symbolic play development has been proposed (Snyder, 1987). Early levels of symbolic play have also been suggested to predict later language development in toddlers with LI (Bruce, Kornfält, Radeborg, Hansson, & Nettelbladt, 2003) as well as in populations of children with other forms of special needs (O'Toole & Chiat, 2006). Playbehaviours have been found to support symbolization capacity by providing the child with a space to explore the sense of self and others (Winnicott, 1971), as well as a bridge between the inner world and the reality (Vygotskij, 1995).…”

Early Communication Skills; Important in Screening for Language Impairment and Neuropsychiatric Disorders

“…to avoid over-prediction) of the screening. For example, in the study by Bruce et al [39] some children, all boys, who had been identified as belonging to a risk group at 18 months of age, but at the follow up did not evidence language problems (i.e. false positives).…”

“…language impairment and neuropsychiatric problems. Early communicative problems can also reflect a risk for language impairment [39] or neuropsychiatric problems [37,44]. Language comprehension and play behaviour manifested in symbolic play, have been shown to be of particular importance in predicting language problems manifested three years later.…”

“…There are different possibilities to predict the future language development of the child; first, by heredity for language delay/ impairment and/or dyslexia, second, by early signs of deficiencies in higher order processing as shown by neurophysiological methods of assessment [34,35], and third, by early deficiencies of cognitive behaviour, such as problems with symbol play, interactive skills and language comprehension [34,36,38,39].…”

Children With Differing Developmental Trajectories of Prelinguistic Communication Skills: Language and Working Memory at Age 5

“…So far, no reliable and accurate means exists that would enable early identification of children who will later have clinically significant language impairment. For example, with regard to outcomes for late talkers, various potential predictors, such as level of expressive delay, receptive language, social engagement and joint attention, as well as gestures and symbolic play (e.g., Bates & Dick, 2002;Bruce, Kornfält, Radeborg, Hansson, & Nettelbladt, 2003;Dale et al, 2003;Rescorla & Goossens, 1992;Rescorla & Merrin, 1998), have been tested, but none of these have proven to have consistent predictive value. However, there are indications that the severity and multitude of early delays may serve as a guide (Ellis & Thal, 2008;Paul & Roth, 2011;Rescorla, 2009).…”