Identifying Language Impairment in Children: Combining Language Test Scores with Parental Report

Autor/inn/en	Bishop, Dorothy V. M.; McDonald, David
Titel	Identifying Language Impairment in Children: Combining Language Test Scores with Parental Report
Quelle	In: International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 44 (2009) 5, S.600-615 (16 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1368-2822
Schlagwörter	Language Impairments; Referral; Diagnostic Tests; Twins; Speech Therapy; Intervention; Academic Failure; Language Tests; Scores; Short Term Memory; Discriminant Analysis; Check Lists; Parent Attitudes; Evaluation Methods; Verbal Ability; Task Analysis; Narration; Socioeconomic Background; At Risk Students; Allied Health Personnel; Literacy + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Speech disorder; Speech disorders; Speech disabilities; Speech disability; Speech handicap; Speech handicaps; Speech impairment; Speech impairments; Language handicaps; Sprachbehinderung; Diagnostic test; Diagnostischer Test; Twin; Zwilling; Entwicklungsproximale Sprachtherapie; Logotherapie; Language test; Sprachtest; Kurzzeitgedächtnis; Diskriminanzanalyse; Checkliste; Elternverhalten; Mündliche Leistung; Aufgabenanalyse; Sozioökonomische Lage; Alphabetisierung; Schreib- und Lesefähigkeit
Abstract	Background: Children who meet language test criteria for specific language impairment (SLI) are not necessarily the same as those who are referred to a speech and language therapist. Aims: To consider how far this discrepancy reflects insensitivity of traditional language tests to clinically important features of language impairment. Methods & Procedures: A total of 245 twin children, 52 of whom had been referred to a speech and language therapist for assessment or intervention, were studied. They were given a battery of language tests and their parents completed the Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2). Results: Language tests that stressed verbal short-term memory were best at distinguishing clinically referred from other cases; narrative and vocabulary tasks were less effective. A discriminant function analysis identified a combination of language test and parental report measures as giving the best discrimination between referred and non-referred cases. Nevertheless, of 82 children classified as language impaired by the discriminant function, 44 had never been referred to a speech and language therapist. These did not appear to be false-positives; they scored at least as poorly as referred cases on literacy tests. They had significantly lower socio-economic backgrounds than referred cases. Conclusions & Implications: Language test scores provide important information about which children are at risk of academic failure, though this varies from test to test. Reliance on language tests alone, however, is insufficient; a parental report provides important complementary information in the diagnostic process. Children of low socio-economic status with language problems are particularly likely to have no contact with speech and language therapist services. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10