PREDICTING OUTCOMES OF EARLY EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE DELAY

拟议的纵向研究将跟踪36名儿童的队列 在两岁时被认为是语言表达能力发展“缓慢”的儿童。 受试者与一组36名正常说话者相匹配， 年龄、性别、社会经济地位和种族。 在24-32个月时，这些受试者都接受了 密集的语言、认知和行为评估。 这些数据-已经收集-构成拟议的 纵向研究 建议研究的目的是：（1）确定 如果以及当“起步慢的人”在正常语言范围内移动时 发展，2）识别语言，行为和认知 两岁时的变量可以预测哪些语言迟缓的孩子 习得将继续表现出慢性语言延迟或学习 在早期的学校里残疾。 受试者将被观察四天 语言发展的年度评估，并在最后三年， 入学准备和成绩。 方差分析将用于 在基线评价中确定区分这两种情况的因素 组 这些因素将被用作语言和学校的预测因素 成果，使用多元回归程序。 结果 将有助于更好地了解正常变化的范围 早期的语言发展。 它们还将有助于提高成本效益， 对那些表现出严重不良反应的幼儿和学龄前儿童进行早期干预的决定 语言发展缓慢。

The proposed longitudinal study will follow a cohort of 36 children identified at age two as 'slow' in the development of expressive language. The subjects were matched to a group of 36 normal speakers on the basis of age, sex, SES, and race. At 24-32 months these subjects were all given an intensive battery of language, cognitive, and behavioral assessments. These data - already collected - comprise the baseline for the proposed longitudinal study. The purposes of the proposed study are 1) to determine if and when the "slow starters" move within the normal range of language development, and 2) to identify language, behavioral, and cognitive variables at age two that predict which children with slow language acquisition will go on to show chronic language delay or learning disability in the early school years. The subjects will be seen for four yearly evaluations of language development, and, in the final three years, school readiness and achievement. Analysis of variance will be used to identify factors in the baseline evaluation that differentiate the two groups. These factors will be used as predictors of language and school achievement outcomes, using multiple regression procedures. The results will contribute to a better understanding of the range of normal variation in early language development. They will also aid in making cost-effective decisions about early intervention for toddlers and pre-schoolers who show slow language growth.