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Undiagnosed language impairment in children with complex epilepsy as a primary disorder
Author(s) -
PARKINSON GILLIAN M
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.tb01751.x
Subject(s) - epilepsy , communication disorder , psychology , specific language impairment , language impairment , subclinical infection , language assessment , language disorder , receipt , developmental psychology , pediatrics , audiology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , cognition , pedagogy , world wide web , computer science
As part of a larger study to examine the language abilities of children with complex epilepsy as a primary disorder, a survey was carried out to ascertain the percentage of subjects with previously undiagnosed language impairment on admission to the Children's Epilepsy Assessment Unit at the Centre. Subjects were from a nationwide catchment, and all socio‐economic groupings were represented. The age range of subjects was 5–18 years. Assessment procedures included formal and informal testing. Some subjects also had simultaneous ambulatory EEG monitoring to check for possible subclinical effects on test performance. Results of the investigations indicated that nearly 50% of subjects had undiagnosed language impairments prior to CEAU entry. Language impairment is still a concept that is often misunderstood, particularly when the symptoms are subtle, and when the subject may still be in receipt of mainstream schooling. These figures demonstrate the importance of routine assessment of children's language and communication abilities alongside other procedures, when examining the needs of the child with complex epilepsy.