Language differences in preschool

Question 1

What is the expected understanding of comprehension of single words at 10 and 16m?

Answer 1

Comprehension/understanding of single words:
- 10m- from 0-144 words
- 16m- from 80-300 words

Question 2

What is the expected understanding of saying single words at 12 and 24 months?

Answer 2

• 12m- 0-24 words
• 24m- 89-534 words

Question 3

What is the expected age at whoich toddlers can say 2 word combinations?

Answer 3

• Between 16m-2y

Question 4

What can a 2 year old with ‘typical speech’ normally do?

Answer 4

• understand more words than they can say
• say a range of words but still many more words to learn
• say 2-3 word sentences
• ask simple questions
• speech sounds will not all be easily understandable

Question 5

At around 3 years and 9 months what sounds can a child usually make?

Answer 5

• usually say sounds b,d,m,t,g,k,s,f and most vowels, in different positions in words eg. Tea and siT
• sh, ch, th, r, y, l and multisyllabic words are harder to say at this age

Question 6

What are some risk factors for speech, language and communication difficulties in pre-school children?

Answer 6

• genetic and chromosomal syndromes of learning disability
• family history of speech, language and communication difficulties/developmental differences/disorders
• physical/motor difficulties
• chronic illness including prematurity and low birth weight
• sensory difficulties ie. hearing and visual impairments
• environmental factors eg. social disadvantage, neglect
• biological factors eg. gender/male, prematurity, low birth weight

Question 7

What is the difference between a language delay and a disorder?

Answer 7

• delay can catch up
• may be a factor explaining delay like hearing loss
• children with delays don’t often have significant medical factors
• with disorders there is often a clear cause, no catch up, negative outcomes in literacy, education, psycho-social outcomes, well-being

Question 8

What is critical age hypothesis?

Answer 8

• if language difficulties are still present by age 5 years then they are much more unlikely to resolve than if the child is younger
• When a language difficulty persists, we now tend to use the term developmental language disorder (DLD)

Question 9

What are some features of development language disorder?

Answer 9

• language difficulties that create barriers to communication or learning in everyday life
• difficulties unlikely to resolve by 5 years of age
• this is complex- language difficulties aren’t caused by a known biomedical condition
• can co occur with other neurodevelopmental disorders

Question 10

Why is it important to identify children with these difficulties?

Answer 10

• common sign of neurodevelopmental disorders
• identify children at risk of DLD who will need support
• language delays do resolve, 50% of children at age 3 years a language delay had resolved by school age
• inform how to target interventions to most in need
• supporting pre-school children with difficulties should help them with their learning and life chances

Question 11

What can a 2 year old normally do in terms of speech language and communication?

Answer 11

• understand some words without context
• expressive vocabulary of 2-300 words
• starting to put 2 words together
• understand basic question words
• saying simple sentences, using space words, using negotiation, word endings

Question 12

What would a public health approach to supporting speech, language and communication look like for pre school children?

Answer 12

• universal level
• targeted level (those at risk)
• specialist level (those identified)
• system-wide enablers

Question 13

What did DLD used to be called and why the change?

Answer 13

• SLI (specific language impairment) changed to developmental language disorder (DLD)
• SLI implied that the focus of SLTs should be solely on children whose language problems were highly specific

Question 14

What is DLD?

Answer 14

Developmental language disorder- is adopted for children whose language disorder does not occur with another biomedical condition, such as a genetic syndrome, a sensorineural hearing loss, neurological disease, Autism Spectrum Disorder or Intellectual Disability

Question 15

What types of SLCN meet criteria for a language disorder?

Answer 15

• 2-3 year olds are instructed to wait
• Poor phonological awareness is not sufficient
• The CATALISE consortium rejected use of the term ‘delay’ to describe language skills that fall below the expected level for children aged 5 years and above. This was due to inconsistent use and lack of research to support the historical distinction between delay and disorder
• Children growing up learning more than one language are not regarded as having Developmental Language Disorder unless there is evidence that they have poor expressive and/or receptive language in their home language

Question 16

What is the total prevalence of children with a language disorder of any kind?

Answer 16

9.92%

Question 17

What is the first thing a SLT will do after referral?

Answer 17

• Collect a range of sources to identify:
• all aspects of language are affected, or only some aspects of language are affected;
  
  • the language impairment is mild/moderate/severe;
  • the language impairment is developmental, or acquired;
  • the language impairment is specific, or associated with other developmental difficulties;
  • the language impairment is transient, or persistent;
  • the language impairment is caused by some combination of: defective genes, environ-
    ment, sensory impairment, neurological damage, physical impairment and impaired
    development in other social and cognitive domains.

Question 18

What should a SLT do when planning intervention?

Answer 18

• decide which form should be used
• timing intervention (early most effective)
• use indirect approaches (where the therapist works in helping the parent to facilitate the child’s language development in natural situations)
• ## frequency of intervention depends on severity