Delay In Preschool Children Research Articles

Screening for Speech and Language Delay in Preschool Children: Recommendation Statement: United States Preventive Services Task Force

Screening for Speech and Language Delay in Preschool Children: Recommendation Statement: United States Preventive Services Task Force

Mother‐Professional Agreement about Developmental Delay in Preschool Children: A Preliminary Report

Current practice prescribes that parents play an integral part in the assessment and management of their preschool child with suspected developmental delay. Multidisciplinary assessment aims to enhance parents' understanding of the nature and extent of the delay with a view to promoting parent‐professional agreement about interventions. Serious mismatches between parents and therapists in their judgements of developmental status are potentially important markers of families at risk of sub‐optimal use of intervention services. This study compared mothers' perceptions of their child's development with the results of standardised tests in key domains. A 14 item questionnaire, constructed to measure mothers' perceptions of current and future development, was administered pre‐ and post‐developmental assessment. Preliminary results suggest that mothers recognised the existence of delayed development, but underestimated its severity. Levels of congruence varied with domain. Predictions about future development revealed that most mothers interpreted the delay as temporary. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

A functional analysis of verbal delay in preschool children: Implications for prevention and total recovery

Delays in acquiring age-appropriate verbal repertoires in preschool children with no known organic etiology may be explained by defective or absent behavior-environmental contingencies. This paper presents six possible behavioral paradigms that describe verbal episodes between parents and their preschool children and how these interactions may inhibit or prevent the acquisition of verbal behavior. These paradigms are contrasted with parent-child interactions that typically result in age-appropriate verbal repertoires. Identifying the reinforcement contingencies that produce delays in acquisition of verbal behavior could lead to the development of more effective behavioral programs for remediating nonorganic language delay. Recommendations for prevention, treatment and total recovery from functional verbal delay and associated mental retardation are presented. The relation between contingency-shaped and rule-governed behavior in the shaping of verbal behavior is discussed.

The Role of Parents' Observations and Concerns in Screening for Developmental Delays in Young Children

An important issue in providing early intervention services is the identification of young children who are at risk or have developmental disabilities. The research reported here examines the role of parents' observations of, and concerns for, their child in screening for developmental delays in preschool children. In this study of 86 children (30 to 67 months) attending a community screening clinic, two factors---parents' concerns about speech, language, or cognitive skills, and parents' ratings of the child's activity on a temperament scale---accounted for 27% of the variance in the likelihood of screening failure and referral. Strategies for including systematic information from parents in the identification of infants, toddlers, and preschool children at risk for developmental delay are discussed.

Assessing developmental delays in preschool children

Primary care nurses have an excellent opportunity to assess the development of preschool children. Developmental delays can occur in various areas, such as physical, language, cognitive, and/or self-help. There are several risk factors that are associated with these delays. With interview, history, risk factors, and assessment instruments, the primary care nurse can detect these problems and intervene appropriately.

Developmental Delays in Preschool Children: Assessment Over Time

Abstract A 3‐year study yielded data on the characteristics and progress of preschool children with developmental delays of uncertain aetiology. Children were tested at six‐month intervals in their homes using standard developmental measures (Bayley, McCarthy, Gesell, Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development); additional information about children and families was gathered by personal interview. Findings support the use of standardized assessment techniques for determining developmental level of preschool delayed children. For the group as a whole there was stability of performance over time, but the rates of change varied according to child. Delays in developmental domains were frequently associated with social behavioural and adjustment problems. Some relationship was found between aetiology and rate of development. Analyses across time suggest that three assessments are needed before confident prediction can be made about developmental rate for individual children.

GROWTH RETARDATION AND DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY AMONGST INNER‐CITY CHILDREN

A whole population survey of an inner-city health district (population 130,000) was undertaken in order to study the association between social deprivation and non-organic growth delay in preschool children. Potential cases were identified from health clinic records. Cases comprised white, full-term singletons, whose weight and height lay below the tenth centile at 4 years of age. Allowance was made for parental stature. A comparison group was closely matched for socio-economic conditions, and other salient variables. Case children were comparatively significantly delayed in all areas of their cognitive development. One-third were seriously retarded and likely to require special education.

The prevalence, stability and significance of developmental language delay in preschool children.

A sample of 937 children in Dunedin, New Zealand, was assessed at ages three and five years in order to estimate the nature, prevalence, stability and significance of developmental language delays in three-year-olds. Assessments included language development, intelligence, and fine and gross motor-co-ordination. Detailed results are given which described three types of language delay at age three: delayed verbal comprehension only, delayed verbal expression only, and delayed development in both aspects of language. Follow-up testing at age five indicated that the specific language delays were not highly stable, whereas delays in both aspects were highly stable. A large proportion of the latter children gained very low scores on the measures at age five, and they accounted for 84 per cent of all children with very low intelligence. The implications of the results for a screening programme to identify three-year-old children at high risk of later developmental delays are considered.