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‘The children in focus' — an epidemiological study of speech‐language skills of 1127 children aged 25 months
Author(s) -
LOADER SUE,
ROULSTONE SUE
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of language and communication disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.101
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1460-6984
pISSN - 1368-2822
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-6984.1995.tb01670.x
Subject(s) - psychology , longitudinal study , fluency , comprehension , developmental psychology , language development , spoken language , medicine , linguistics , mathematics education , philosophy , pathology
This paper presents the early findings of a study of the communication skills of 1127 children — ‘The children in focus’. These children, who were all assessed at 25 months of age, are a subgroup of the major Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC), based at the University of Bristol, and involving 14,000 children and their families. It is part of a World Health Organization project designed to monitor and analyse the origins and influences of different factors affecting the health and development of children in Avon, and to collaborate with similar surveys in seven other European countries. The aims of the study are: (1) To gather epidemiological data on the incidence and broad subgroups of speech‐language difficulties, including voice and fluency; (2) To provide a database of information on 1127 children which can be used as part of a longitudinal study to investigate possible causes of and factors influencing spontaneous recovery from ‘late‐talking’; (3) To investigate the significance of clinical features (e.g. imitative ability) in the early identification of persisting speech‐language difficulties; (4) To provide standardised scores for 1127 children for broad phonological processes and an understanding of spoken language, as assessed by the Reynell Developmental Comprehension Scales; (5) To provide data for the numerous collaborative studies in the ALSPAC study (e.g. parental interaction with twins, effect of conductive hearing loss). Research methods included clinical assessment of each child involving the Reynell Developmental Comprehension Scales, a phonological screening procedure based on the work of Pagel Padan Novak and Beiter (1987) and observation. Carer/parental perceptions of their child's communication skills were collected from questionnaires. Data from the main ALSPAC study (for example, medical history) will in the future be related to the findings of the study. The clinical assessment of the children began in July 1994 and was completed in January 1995. Results will include normal distribution curves for the Reynell Developmental Comprehension Scales and normal phonological processes in children of 25 months of age. It will be possible to identify the incidence and geographical distribution of the ‘late‐talkers’ which will be of value in service planning in the future and may help to explain local factors affecting referral rates. It is hoped that correlations between ‘late‐talkers’ and therapists' indicators of concern (for example, poor attention skills) will be found. The future study of ‘The children in focus’ at 56 months will enable the spontaneous recovery of ‘late‐talkers’ to be investigated and also enable a retrospective study of medical, environmental and emotional factors of those children who continue to show speech‐language difficulties to be carried out.