The predictive validity and accuracy of a screening test for language delay and auditory perceptual disorder

Abstract

S Infants (321) who had been screened for language delay and auditory perceptual problems at 9 months of age were evaluated 1 year later. Of these infants 88.6% were correctly classified as at-risk or not-at-risk of delayed linguistic development. The correlation between performance on the screen and on a language scale was 0.49. The great majority of those with receptive and expressive delay continued to show problems at 2 years of age, whereas half of those with expressive delay alone were within normal limits. No evidence was found that a history of fluctuating hearing loss contributed to the development of either language delay or auditory perceptual problems.De jeunes enfants qui avaient ktk testes a l'iige de 9 mois en vue de dkceler d'kventuels retards du langage et probl2mes de perception auditive, ont ttC examinks un an apr2s. Ceci a permis de reveler l'exactitude de 88.6% des diagnostics qui visaient a ktablir si ces enfants couraient ou non un risque de retard dans leur dkveloppement linguistique. La corrklation entre la performance lors du test original et les rksultats obtenus ensuite et mesurks sur une tchelle du langage, ktait de 0.49. La grande majoritk de ceux quie accusaient des retards dans la rkception et I'expression continuait d'avoir des problemes a I'iige de 2 ans, bien que la moitik de ceux qui ne souffraient de retards que dans I'expression se soient trouvks dans les limites normales. Rien n'a Ctk trouvk qui aurait p u donner a penser qu'une succession fluctuante de pertes d'audition ait contribut au dkveloppement soit de retard du Iangage soit de problemes de perception auditive. 321 Kinder, die im Alter von 9 Monaten wegen eventueller Sprachverzogerung und auditiver Wahrnehmungsprobleme getestet wurden, sind ein Jahr spater nochmals gepriiji worden. V o n diesen Kindern sind 88.6% richtig klassifiziert worden, als entweder rnit oder ohne die Gefahr einer verzogerten Sprachentwicklung. Die Korrelation zwischen ihren Testleistungen und einer Sprachentwicklungsskala war 0.49. Die iiberwiegende Mehrheit von denen, die eine rezeptive und expressive Verzogerung zeigten, haben rnit 2 Jahren weiterhin Probleme erfahren, obgleich die Haljie von denen, die nur eine expressive Verzogerung zeigten, eine Leistung innerhalb der normalen Grenzen hatterr. Es entstand kein Beweis fur eine Beiziehung zwischen einem fluktuierenden Horverlust und der Sprachverzogerung oder den auditiven Wahrnehmungsproblemen.

Volubility, consonant, and syllable characteristics in infants and toddlers later diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech: A pilot study

“…Syllables shapes may be so restricted as to cause homonomy (e.g., where the syllable ''da'' represents many word meanings). In a retrospective study of two groups of infants at 9 months of age, Highman, Leitao, Hennessey, and Piek (2012) compared group performances on the Receptive Emergent Expressive Language Scale (Bzoch & League, 1991) and the WILSTARR/Baby Talk (Ward, 1992) infant screening program. The clinical group consisted of nine children (ages 38-52 months) with clinical characteristics of CAS and who had failed the WILSTARR/Baby Talk screening at 8 and 9 months of age.…”

Detecting language problems: accuracy of five language screening instruments in preschool children

“…A large variety of instruments to detect language delays, often based on parent report, have been developed (Rescorla 1989, Ward 1992, Clark et al 1995, Stott et al 2002, de Koning et al 2004. Evaluation of such screening instruments consists of comparing the result of the screen that is the assignment of cases into 'normal' or 'not normal', with the result on a reference test or 'criterion standard', which should ideally be a standardized clinical diagnostic test.…”

An investigation into aspects of the Mayo early language screening test

“…The results of this study indicate that the MELST is sensitive to the identification of children with potential language impairment at an early age and is, therefore, achieving the aims of the test authors. It also fulfils the recommendations of Hall 1991, Bashir et al 1992 and Ward 1992, in favour of early identification of speech and language problems, to allow for early and appropriate intervention.…”

“…There is much evidence that speech and/or language deficits, if not identified at an early stage, can lead to later academic, social and emotional difficulties ( Baltaxe & Simmons 1990; Fletcher & Hall 1991; Bashir, Stark & Graham 1992). Therefore, the importance of early identification of and intervention for children with speech and language deficits is often stressed ( Blackman 1992; Ward 1992). In order to identify such children, assessment is necessary.…”