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Using the clinical linguistic and auditory milestone scale for developmental screening in high-risk preterm infants.

Eighty-one preterm infants (mean gestational age 29 weeks, range 24-36 weeks) discharged from The Johns Hopkins Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were followed up sequentially from birth to 2 years of age by use of the Clinical Linguistic and Auditory Milestone Scale (CLAMS) to evaluate language development. Children were studied during three time intervals: Interval 1: 3-5 months chronologic age (CA); Interval 2: 9-14 months (CA); and Interval 3: 18-24 months (CA). Psychometric test scores were compared with CLAMS Language Quotients (LQ) by use of full, partial (75%, 50%, 25%), and no "correction" for weeks of prematurity to determine whether "correcting" for prematurity would yield a more accurate estimate of eventual cognitive outcome. CLAMS LQ at Interval 1 was highly correlated with CLAMS LQ at Interval 2 and CLAMS LQ at Interval 2 correlated well with CLAMS LQ at Interval 3 (r = 0.57 and 0.64, respectively, P = 0.0001). Correlations indicated that there was an orderly, sequential development of language in the preterm infant. CLAMS evaluations correlated significantly with psychometric test results during Interval 2 and Interval 3 (r = 0.34, P < 0.02 and r = 0.75, P = 0.0001, respectively). The CLAMS proved to be a useful instrument for monitoring preterm language development in the primary pediatric care setting.

Apgar Score↗

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in infants born at term.

BACKGROUND: This section is under preparation and will be included in the next issue. OBJECTIVES: The n-3 and n-6 essential fatty acids alpha linolenic acid and linoleic acid are the precursors of the n-3 and n-6 longchain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA). Controversy exists over whether LCPUFA are essential nutrients during infancy. The aim of this review is to assess whether supplementation of formula with LCPUFA is safe and of benefit to term infants. SEARCH STRATEGY: Trials were identified by MEDLINE, checking reference lists of articles and conference proceedings, and by personal communication. SELECTION CRITERIA: All randomised trials of formula supplemented with LCPUFA and with clinical endpoints were reviewed. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Eight randomised studies were identified. One of these studies was excluded due to supplementation commencing after three weeks of age, and one is awaiting assessment. The remaining six trials were assessed to be of good quality. MAIN RESULTS: Visual acuity was assessed by visual evoked potentials at 4 and 7-8 months in the studies of Makrides et al (1995 & 1996). The supplemented infants had an improved rate of visual maturation at both time points in the first study, but no difference was found between the groups at 4 months in the second study. Visual acuity was assessed by Teller acuity cards in the study of Carlson et al (1996), Clausen et al (1996) and Austed et al (1997). Supplementation had no consistent effect on visual acuity over the first year of life. General development was measured in five studies, all with small numbers. Two suggested a benefit of supplementation. One reported a benefit with supplementation at 4 months ( developmental quotient, DQ measured with the Brunet Lezine test, Agostini et al 1995), but when the groups were reassessed with the same test at 1 and 2 years, no differences were found in DQ (Agostini et al 1997). The other study reported a benefit with supplementation at 9 months (novelty preference measured by Fagan Infantest, Clausen et al 1996). The Adelaide studies showed no effect of supplementation on DQ at one year (Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID), Makrides et al 1995 &1996). The Portland study showed no effect of supplementation on development at one year (BSID) or at three years (Stanford Binet IQ test). The Portland study showed no effect of supplementation on language development at one year (McArthur Communicative Development Inventory, Janowsky et al 1995) or at three years (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Scott et al 1997). Growth was measured in a small number of infants in the studies of Makrides et al (1995 & 1996) and Austed et al (1997). There was no suggestion that LCPUFA supplementation reduced the growth of term infants. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS: At present there is little evidence from randomised trials of LCPUFA supplementation to support the hypothesis that LCPUFA supplementation confers any benefit on visual or cognitive development. There are no data from the randomised trials presently available to indicate that LCPUFA supplements influence the growth of term infants.

Dietary Supplements↗

Fine-grained auditory discrimination: factor structures.

This research tested the hypothesis that as children's language development matures, factor-analytic structural changes occur that are associated with measurements of fine-grained auditory discrimination, receptive vocabulary, receptive language, speech production, and three performance subtests of the WISC-R. Among 6- to 7-year-old children, the percent of total variance attributed to the factor defined by fine-grained auditory discrimination measures was approximately 43% for children who were intellectually impaired (Experiment 2), 27% for youngsters who had language-learning problems, and 16% for regularly progressing children (Experiment 1). The WISC-R subtest scores, generally, did not load on the auditory discrimination factor. The difference in variance explained by the auditory discrimination factor was interpreted as representing greater relative importance of auditory discrimination among children with less-well-developed language competencies than among children with more mature language skills. This interpretation was strengthened by the finding of no distinct auditory discrimination factor for 8- to 11-year-old children who were either regularly progressing or language-disabled even though the language/speech factor at this age closely resembled that found among younger children. Results were consonant with Ackerman's (1987) model, suggesting that task-specific variance associated with tasks that remain resource-dependent may diminish after practice and experience.

Child↗

Research priorities in language and learning.

The paper reviews recent work in the area of linguistics applied to abnormal language development, specifically in the area of grammar. Particular attention is paid to the notion of linguistic profiling as a procedure for assessment and remediation, using information from normal language development research as a guide. It is suggested that in addition to the potential benefit of the continuing advance in knowledge of normal language acquisition for studies of language disorders, the study of the language of mothers to children could prove of considerable value to the speech and language pathologist.

Child↗

Language, gesture, and the developing brain.

Do language abilities develop in isolation? Are they mediated by a unique neural substrate, a "mental organ" devoted exclusively to language? Or is language built upon more general abilities, shared with other cognitive domains, and mediated by common neural systems? Here, we review results suggesting that language and gesture are "close family", then turn to evidence that raises questions about how real those "family resemblances" are, summarizing dissociations from our developmental studies of several different child populations. We then examine both these veins of evidence in light of some new findings from the adult neuroimaging literature and suggest a possible reinterpretation of these dissociations as well as new directions for research with both children and adults.

Adult↗

Vibrotactile stimulation: case study with a profoundly deaf child.

This case study reports results obtained from a young, profoundly deaf child, M, who was fitted with a single-channel vibrotactile device, the Tactaid I, at 29 months of age. Her progress in speech and language development was evaluated over a 14-month period. During this period, M learned to understand 101 words through lipreading and the Tactaid I, and to produce consistent approximations of 90 words. Her scores on language tests with hearing-impaired norms progressed from below average to above average for her age. M's scores on language tests with hearing norms also reflected significant progress, although she did not achieve normal language development. These results indicate that a single-channel vibrotactile aid may facilitate the acquisition of spoken language in a profoundly deaf child who is unable to benefit from a conventional hearing aid.

Child, Preschool↗

A therapeutic feeding programme. II: Links with language and learning.

The feeding programme described in Part I of this study produced immediate change in the eating patterns of disturbed children, who then became available for learning and language development in a way they had not been previously. The authors give a broad outline of the principles and practice of functional learning, and the educational technique they used. They describe the language development of one child in detail, and the methods used. Follow-up details are also given for the three children described in Part I of the study.

Adolescent↗

Language transactions during development and intervention: theoretical implications for developmental neuroscience.

Recent modeling of language development and intervention for children with disabilities has increasingly focused on the interactions between adults and children. These models have resulted in a number of recent advances in the behavioral treatment of language abilities in children with disabilities. Because these interventions are associated with substantial growth in a number of skills including speech, grammar and vocabulary, these paradigms may provide a useful model for studying neurological development of these aspects of language. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the potential neurodevelopmental ramifications of this type of theoretical model for facilitating language growth in children with and without disabilities. Indeed, because intervention can sometimes trigger rapid advances in language skills and presumably, associated neurological organization, this may prove to be a very useful paradigm for understanding the neurological correlates of language growth.

Brain↗

Identifying children at risk for language impairment: screening of communication at 18 months.

AIM: To investigate the possibility of identifying children at risk for language impairment based on a new screening instrument to assess communication and language skills at 18 mo of age. METHODS: At 18 mo, 58 children were assessed with a screening instrument for communication and language consisting of a professional assessment and a parents' questionnaire. Students of speech and language pathology, well trained in child language assessment, carried out the professional assessment, which was based on observations of play behaviour, interaction and expressive and receptive language skills. Of the 58 children, 43 attended a follow-up assessment of language skills at 54 mo of age. RESULTS: Nine children were considered to be at risk for language impairment at 18 mo and 10 children were evaluated as being at risk at 54 mo. A significant positive correlation was found between the professional evaluations at 18 mo and the language tests at 54 mo. Verbal comprehension and pretend play correlated significantly with the results on the language tests. CONCLUSION: A professional screening of communication and language at 18 mo of age is worthwhile for predicting problems in language development. The results further show that language comprehension and pretend play rather than expressive skills should be emphasized.

Communication↗

Speech and hearing problems in a high-risk population.

A retrospective study was conducted on 85 neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) survivors, all of whom had been mechanically ventilated. Mean birth weight was 1,726 +/- 778 g and mean gestational age was 32.3 +/- 3.8 weeks. Infants were evaluated for various risk factors previously reported to cause hearing loss. Language development was assessed using the Early Language Milestone (ELM) scale and hearing was tested by free field responses (FFR). Twenty-four children (28.2%) had an abnormal ELM or FFR result. Seventeen children failed an FFR; 14 of these were normal on follow-up and 3 defaulted. There was thus no permanent sensorineural hearing loss in the sample assessed. Eleven children failed an ELM, of whom 5 had speech problems on long-term follow-up. There was a significant correlation between the ELM and neurodevelopmental scores (P = 0.045). Intraventricular haemorrhage also correlated significantly with the ELM score (P = 0.0016). Thus the overall incidence of hearing loss in this NICU population was low, but there was a significant occurrence of speech problems, which correlated with neurological damage.

Female↗

Follow-up study of a right- and a left-hemispherectomized child: implications for localization and impairment of language in children.

Two hemispherectomized girls, one operated on the right, the other on the left, were followed from time of surgery until 9 and 10 years of age and compared with respect to course of language acquisition following surgery. At conclusion of follow-up, receptive and expressive language, phoneme perception and production, and sentence processing of the two hemispherectomized children were compared with those of two control groups of similar age, one developing language normally, the other language-impaired. The left-hemispherectomized child's abilities were similar to those of the language-impaired children; the right-hemispherectomized child's abilities resembled those of the language-normal children. Implications for localization of developmental anomalies in language-impaired children are discussed.

Brain↗

Otitis media: pathogenesis and medical sequelae.

Eustachian tube abnormalities are a primary determinant of otitis media. Other determinants include viral infections and local and systemic immune deficiencies, which predispose to superimposed bacterial disease. Local infection induces inflammation, which can be exacerbated by the presence of antibiotics. The degree of inflammation determines the extent of damage and the oedema and histological damage correlate with the white blood cell count and not the bacterial count. Local sequelae include recurrent or persistent acute otitis media, recurrent or chronic otitis media with effusion and chronic suppurative otitis media. Other local sequelae include occasional perforation of the tympanic membrane, sensorineural hearing loss, acute serous labyrinthitis, and facial palsy, which can occur associated with the course of the facial nerve across the middle ear. Acute otitis media can lead to persistent loss of a significant amount of sensorineural hearing after treatment and resolution of the effusion. Damage is usually very mild or nonexistent in the speech frequency ranges, but detectable if high frequency audiometry is performed. Studies in otitis media with effusion have shown a mild association between its presence and speech and language development in children under the age of 4 years. But also in older children, there is a continued association between otitis media with effusion, affecting expressive language development, reading skills and behavior. Therefore physicians have a major responsibility in managing otitis media.

Acute Disease↗

Measuring phonology in babble and speech.

Procedures for measuring prelinguistic vocalizations and early phonological development are described and illustrated. The prelinguistic measures indicate that production of supraglottal consonants in consonant-vowel syllables is correlated with subsequent speech and language development and that limited use of consonants can serve as a way to identify children who are at risk for speech and language disorders. Three measures of meaningful speech are discussed, two based on accuracy of production, one on error patterns. All three correlate with severity of involvement, but as yet their relationship to speech intelligibility is unclear.

Articulation Disorders↗

A clinical taxonomy for the categorization of pragmatic language functions in normal preschool children.

The present study assessed the pragmatic language skills in normal preschool children. A specially designed taxonomy was used to classify the subjects' responses. Findings revealed (1) high reliability in the use of the taxonomy; (2) a decrease in the inappropriate responses used by children with an increase in age; (3) generally, inappropriate responses were confined to the same categories across age levels. Findings are discussed relative to patterns of pragmatic language development as a function of age.

Child, Preschool↗

Pediatric speech intelligibility test. I. Generation of test materials.

Normal children between 3 and 7 years of age generated word and sentence messages for use in a new speech intelligibility test. Word materials did not differ as a function of chronological age, vocabulary skills, or receptive language ability. Sentence materials, however, did reflect differences in chronological age, vocabulary skills, and receptive language skills. Older children, approximately 5-10 years, responded with complete, adult-like sentences. Younger children, approximately 3-10 years, responded with either a proform substituted for the noun phrase subject of a sentence or by omitting the auxiliary verb "be" in forming the present progressive verb tense of the sentence. To represent the differences in the children's responses, two different types of test sentences were formed. In one construction, the test sentence is composed of (noun phrase/verb-ing/noun phrase), preceded by the carrier phrase "show me", e.g., "Show me a bear brushing his teeth". In the other construction, the test sentence is composed of (noun phrase/auxiliary verb-ing/noun phrase), e.g., "A bear is brushing his teeth". The two different sentence forms are proposed as a means of equating differences in normal language development among children.

Age Factors↗

Chronic pediatric tracheotomy: assessment and implications for habilitation of voice, speech and language in young children.

The effect of chronic tracheotomy on the acquisition of voice, speech, and language skills was studied. Children with chronological ages of 16 months to 41 months were evaluated for Receptive Communication Age (RCA) and Expressive Communication Age (ECA). Results indicate a consistent deviation of (on the average) 4.8 months delay in RCA and 9 months delay in ECA. An habilitation program for early intervention in voice, speech and language stimulation is described, with follow-up data on 3 children. A progression from non-meaningful, non-vocal communication to more meaningful and functional communication is noted. The evidence indicates that, without therapeutic intervention, children with tracheotomies are at risk for delays in receptive and expressive language development, as well as deficits in oral/vocal speech and voice production.

Child Language↗

Speech perception skills of deaf infants following cochlear implantation: a first report.

OBJECTIVE: We adapted a behavioral procedure that has been used extensively with normal-hearing (NH) infants, the visual habituation (VH) procedure, to assess deaf infants' discrimination and attention to speech. METHODS: Twenty-four NH 6-month-olds, 24 NH 9-month-olds, and 16 deaf infants at various ages before and following cochlear implantation (CI) were tested in a sound booth on their caregiver's lap in front of a TV monitor. During the habituation phase, each infant was presented with a repeating speech sound (e.g. 'hop hop hop') paired with a visual display of a checkerboard pattern on half of the trials ('sound trials') and only the visual display on the other half ('silent trials'). When the infant's looking time decreased and reached a habituation criterion, a test phase began. This consisted of two trials: an 'old trial' that was identical to the 'sound trials' and a 'novel trial' that consisted of a different repeating speech sound (e.g. 'ahhh') paired with the same checkerboard pattern. RESULTS: During the habituation phase, NH infants looked significantly longer during the sound trials than during the silent trials. However, deaf infants who had received cochlear implants (CIs) displayed a much weaker preference for the sound trials. On the other hand, both NH infants and deaf infants with CIs attended significantly longer to the visual display during the novel trial than during the old trial, suggesting that they were able to discriminate the speech patterns. Before receiving CIs, deaf infants did not show any preferences. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the findings suggest that deaf infants who receive CIs are able to detect and discriminate some speech patterns. However, their overall attention to speech sounds may be less than NH infants'. Attention to speech may impact other aspects of speech perception and spoken language development, such as segmenting words from fluent speech and learning novel words. Implications of the effects of early auditory deprivation and age at CI on speech perception and language development are discussed.

Attention↗

The predictive validity of a simple two item developmental screening test for three year olds.

A simple two item developmental screening test for three year old children is described, together with its predictive validity when used with 937 children being followed in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Child Development Study. Data are presented to show that the test screened out 6.9 percent of the three year old children and more than half of them gained very low scores on at least one test of intelligence, motor or language development two years later. The screening test successfully identified from one half to three-quarters of all the children who gained very low five year scores in intelligence, motor or language development at age five. The two item screening test is recommended for use by doctors, nurses, teachers or social workers, as a simple method of identifying three year old children in need of further assessment because of suspected developmental delays.

Child, Preschool↗