PREDICTING OUTCOMES OF EARLY EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE DELAY

这项拟议的纵向研究将跟踪36名儿童的队列 在两岁时被认为是表达能力发展缓慢的儿童。 受试者与36名正常说话者的基础上进行了匹配 年龄、性别、社会地位和种族。在24-32个月的时候，这些受试者都被给予了 密集的语言、认知和行为评估。 这些已经收集的数据构成了拟议的 纵向研究。拟议研究的目的是：1)确定 如果“起步慢的人”在正常的语言范围内活动 发展，以及2)识别语言、行为和认知 在两岁时预测哪些儿童语言迟缓的变量 习得将继续表现出慢性语言延迟或学习 早年的残疾儿童。受试者将被观看四次 每年对语言发展进行评估，在最后三年， 就学准备和成绩。将使用方差分析来 确定基线评估中区分两者的因素 组。这些因素将被用作语言和学校的预测因子 成果结果，使用多元回归程序。结果是 将有助于更好地理解正常变化的范围 在早期的语言发展中。它们还将有助于使成本效益 对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.