Language Disorders:from Infancy through Adolescence:

Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and Communicating

Rhea Paul, PhD, CCC-SLPProfessor, Yale Child Study Center

New Haven, Connecticut

Courtenay F. Norbury, PhD

Senior Research Fellow Department of Psychology Royal Holloway University of London London,England

pages 238-246

assessment of communicative  skills in children with emerging language

multidisciplinary and transdiciplinary assesment

in multidisciplinary assessment,each professional carries out a relatively independent assessment, exploring the issues relevant to his or her own discipline.

言语语言治疗师评估孩子的沟通技能，物理治疗师评估孩子的运动运动技能等等

they provide in-depth information that can be used not only to decide whether a client is significantly impaired but also to establish baseline function and identify intervention goals.

transdisciplinary assessment ,sometimes called "arena assessment." transdiciplinary or arena assessments involve the child's interacting with just one adult,a "facilitator,"who performs  some formal and informal assessments.the other members of the team,including the SLP ,observe the facilitator's interaction with the client.they may ask the facilitator to present certain tasks to the child,and they take notes on their observations of the child's behavior in the situation,but they do not interact directly with the client.

play and gesture assessment

in the single-word period,there is a strong relationship between the use of words as labels and the ability to demonstrate functional play,or to use objects in play for their conventional purpose, such as putting a toy telephone up to the ear.

going through the series of motions to feed and bathe a doll

assessing play

play is the most natrual context for language learning.

four paly scenes:

a tea party,a farm,and scenes involving transportation and nurturing

not to touch the toys unless invited to by the child and not to give suggestions for play.be given specific prompts to provide only when the child will not touch or play spontaneously with a set of toys.

play scale items(p.240)

semi-appropriate toy use(example:touch comb to hair with tines facing up;puts blanket on doll in crib but only covers doll's face)

nesting(example:crams all toys into crib;tosses all cars into cowboy hat)

multiple play episodes with different actions(example:pushes truck,loads blocks in truck;feeds doll with spoon,gives cup to parent to drink)

multiple play episodes with same action(example:feeds doll with spoon,feeds self with spoon;pushes truck,jeep)

extended multiple play episode(example:dials telephone,puts telephone to ear and talks,hangs up;takes doll out of truck,puts truck in garage,puts doll on motorcycle and "drives" away)

a set of toys include blocks,balls.rattles,and paper and crayons,dolls or stuffed toys,feeding utensils( cup,spoon,etc.),hygiene utensils(brush,washcloth,etc.),nurturing toys(blanket,bottle),and a toy telephone.

assessing gesture

gestures are highly related to language in early development

young children often rely on gestures to express meaning when they are still very limited in their verbal abilities,and that word-gesture combinations often lead the way to multiword speech.

children with language disorders,too,use gestures to express meaning that is beyond their linguistic capacity.

guidelines for play assessment

examples

picks up a brush,touches it to hair,drops it.

picks up the toy telephone,puts it to ear,sets it aside

swishes broom on floor briefly

pretends to drink from toy teacup

eats from an empty spoon

closes eyes,puts hands by cheek,pretending to sleep

feeds doll 

brushes doll's hair

pretends to read a book

pretends to sweep floor

moves a block or toy car with appropriate sounds of vehicle

combs own,then mother's hair

drinks from toy bottle,then feeds doll from bottle

puts empty spoon to mother's mouth,then experimenter and self

holds telephone to ear,dials

kisses doll,puts it to bed,puts blanket on

stirs the pot,feeds doll ,washes dishes

find the iron,sets it down

searches for the cloth,tossing aside

several objects,when cloth is found,irons it.

gestures and gestural development in the prelinguistic and emerging language stages(p.241)

frequency type(toddlers with a variety of disabilities use fewer gestures than typical peers.onset of pointing predicts language development;children with ASD and DS are frequent late to acquire pointing.)

communicative function(limitied variety of gesture,particularly for the purpose of joint attention and social interaction functions in toddlers 18-24 months is associated with later diagnosis of autism and other developmental disabilities.)

coordination of gesture with gaze and vocalization(by 15 months,typically developing toddlers combine gestures with gaze and/or vocalization.lack of this coordination is associated with language delay and/or ASD.)

transition from contact to distal gestures(failure to acquire gestures to indicate objects at a distance is associated with developmental disorder;it is frequently seen in ASD.)

transition to words(by 16 months,typical toddlers use words and gestures to name object,by 20 months words predominate as names for object.children who persist in using gestures label object after 20 months may evidence language delay.)

communication assessment

communicative skills in children younger than 3

strategy  for assessing a child with emerging language:(p.242)]

formal assessment

using informal methods to examine communicative functioning in several domains independently.

assessing communicative intention

children can get their messages across by pointing,reaching,whining,babbling,or vocalizing a variety of protowords that don't sound like adult targets but do have speech-like components.many of these nonverbal forms can be recognized by aduluts as attempts to communicate.very often an adult familiar with the child with emerging language can discern the child's intention in these nonverbal forms.

by the third birthday,the normally developing toddler is more like an adult speaker than like his or her 1-year-old counterpart.

late-talking toddlers generally show lower rates of communication,vovalization,initiation,and joint attention,even nonverbally,than their typical peers.

learn the purpose of communication

toys are accessible and the adult follows the child's lead

range of communicative functions

two basic functions:proto-imperatives and proto-declaratives

proto-imperatives are used to get an adult to do or not to do something.include:

requests for objects

request for action

rejections or protests

proto-declaratives are preverbal attempts to get an adult to focus on an object or event by such acts as showing off or showing or pointing out objects,pictures,and so on,for the purpose of establishing social interaction or joint attention.

comment,which is used to point out objects or actions for the purpose of establishing joint attention.

discourse functions,include:

requests for information

acknowledgements(imitating part of the previous utteracne or nonverbally by mimicking the interlocutor's intonation pattern.比如點頭）

answer

children with autism are likely to produce proto-imperative functions but less likely to produce proto-declaratives.childern with DS ,on the other hand,show more proto-declarative intentions but have deficits in proto-imperatives.

frequency of expression of intentions

if a nonspeaking client produces fewer than three proto-declarative acts within a 15-minute observation period,there is a risk for development of functional speech.

forms of communication

gestural means of communication are predominant at approximately 8-12 months of age.

gestures are combine with word-like vocalizations containing consonants at 12-18 months.

conventional words or word combinations are used with increasin frequency to express a range of intentions at 18 to 24 months.

we may need to children understand that we must do something relatively specific with our mouths to communicate effectively.

using a communication intention worksheet

to qualify as communicative act,though,a child's behavior must satisfy the following criteria:

1.it must be directed,primarily by means of gaze,to the adult.the child must look at,refer to ,or address the adult directly in some way as part of the test.

2.it must have the effect,or at least the obviously intended effect,of influencing the adult's behavior, focus of attention,or state of knowledge,the child must be obviously trying to get a message across to someone.

3.the child must be persistent in the attempt to convey a message if the adult fails to repond or reponds in a way the child had not intended.

frequency of communication

diversity of functions expressed

diversity of forms

following the child's lead,modeling talking about ongoing experiences with self-talk.expanding on what the child says or indicates interest in,limiting initiating new topics,giving the child time to repond,and using other indirect language stimulation techniques and communication temptations.