The validation of a treatment method for language delay in the first year of life

Abstract

ABSTRACT The author has developed a screening test which proved concurrently and predictively valid and accurate in detecting linguistic delay in infants under one year of age. The screen further identified those infants in whom linguistic delay was associated with generalised listening difficulties (Ward, 1992. In the study to be reported here, a sample of infants detected by the screen and showing linguistic delay with associated listening difficulties (N=100, mean age 9;4) was divided into matched experimental and control groups. The experimental group was treated at that stage by a novel methodology, and both experimental and control groups followed up for two years. In their fourth year of life, the experimental group children all showed normal or accelerated language development, whereas most of the control group continue to show serious linguistic delay. The implications in terms of service delivery are also discussed.