Inclusion and the practice of repeating Kindergarten in Australia

Reevaluación de la brecha del lenguaje receptivo-expresivo en individuos con síndrome de Down

How Well are Australian Infants and Children Aged 4 to 5 Years Doing?

To verify indicators of cognitive development, receptive language skills and adaptive behavioral patterns in toddlers with Williams syndrome (WS). The sample comprised 8 children of both sex, aged between 48 and 72 months with WS. Instruments of data collection were Denver Developmental Screening Test II; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale; Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½-5and 6 to 18; Columbia Mental Maturity Scale (CMMS), and Behavior Problems Inventory-01. The major developmental impairments were associated with fine motor skills and personal care abilities. Deficits in receptive language and communication skills were reported according to the PPVT and Denver II, respectively. The caregivers reported behavioral and emotional problems associated to anxiety and depression, and attention problems scales of CBCL. The toddlers demonstrated deficits in adaptive functioning and behavioral, motor and cognitive difficulties such as inattention and hyperactivity, stereotypies and aggressive behavior.

Speech perception is often considered specific to the auditory modality, despite convincing evidence that speech processing is bimodal. The theoretical and clinical roles of lipreading for speech perception, however, have received little attention in speech-language pathology. The aims of this study were to investigate how lipreading ability can be assessed to facilitate clinical decision making in speech and language intervention, to determine how lipreading affects speech development in a hearing impaired cohort and to assess the interaction of lipreading skills with other factors thought to give rise to variation in communication skills in hearing impaired children. Five pieces of evidence that support lipreading as an integral part of speech processing are reviewed in Chapter 1. Definitions of hearing loss and lipreading are also presented. Ways of assessing lipreading ability are essential for both research and clinical practice and a review of lipreading tests in Chapter 1 highlights the inadequacy of assessment tools in this area. Factors often cited in the literature as affecting lipreading skills in a hearing and /or hearing impaired cohort are also examined. These include gender, age, socioeconomic status, intelligence, degree of hearing loss and aetiology of hearing loss. Chapter 2 details a longitudinal study by Dodd, McIntosh, and Woodhouse (1992) which described the communication development of children with hearing impairment and investigated the associations between communication skills and other linguistic and non¬linguistic factors. Lipreading skills were assessed using the Speechreading Assessment for Children with Hearing Impairment (SPACHI), a test developed for the study, and this data is also discussed. An association was found between lipreading skills and speech development. Those children with good lipreading skills had better speech skills as measured quantitatively through their phonemic repertoire. They had fewer phonemes missing and a higher percent of correct consonants. As a whole group, receptive and expressive language skills were below age appropriate scores. Chapter 3 reports new analysis of unused data from the longitudinal study which indicated associations between memory skills and other speech and language parameters. The results show that lipreading skills were highly correlated with some parameters of speech and language skills. Children who had better lipreading skills at an early age had better speech skills as measured qualitatively in their phonological repertoire. They also had more developmental error patterns. Poor lipreaders had significantly more phonemes missing from their phonemic repertoires and made significantly more nondevelopmental speech errors than the good lipreaders. Good lipreaders had better visual memory skills. The longitudinal study was limited by a number of factors, including low participant numbers and the lack of adherence to current best assessment practice in the assessments used. It also became evident that the SPACHI was inadequate and needed revision. It did not clearly delineate the level at which a child’s lipreading skills were plateauing (i.e., word, phrase, sentence or conversational speech) and there was no contingency for test familiarity, therefore making the test unreliable if used too frequently. In order to assess lipreading for research purposes, it may be necessary to test the skill in isolation, as well as multimodally. There was no ability to accurately assess both visual and auditory visual modalities using the SPACHI and there were insufficient test items per section to clearly determine competence at specific levels of ability. Finally, no hearing children were assessed for validity and reliability measurements using the test. Chapter 4 describes the development and content of the Lipreading Assessment of Children with Hearing Impairment (LACHI), a revised and enhanced version of the SPACHI. The LACHI provides an assessment of children’s lipreading skills across the word, phrase, sentence, question and conversational levels. There are three interchangeable test forms (the Farm, the Beach and the Park) and they can be used to test auditorily, visually (lipreading) or auditory-visually, without test familiarity being an issue. Chapter 5 provides an overview of the use of the LACHI on a cohort of hearing children and children with impaired hearing, evaluating LACHI performance in terms of gender, age and socioeconomic status. On average, girls performed significantly better than boys, and older children performed better than younger children, although some younger children had excellent lipreading skills. Socioeconomic grouping affected the hearing group only, with those from a higher socioeconomic group performing better. Data on the internal structure of the LACHI was evaluated and indicated that the interchangeable forms are not significantly different, with test section five being the most difficult for both the hearing and hearing impaired cohorts. The communication development of children with hearing impairment is examined in more depth in Chapter 6. No past research has provided such an overview of lipreading in relation to other communication skills. The cross-sectional study examined speech skills using free speech analysis and the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP). Receptive and expressive language skills were also investigated as was visual and auditory memory. Lipreading skills were assessed using the LACHI. Results confirmed the association between good lipreading and better speech skills by the type of error patterns (more developmental) and Percent Consonants Correct, Percent Vowels Correct and Percent Phonemes Correct (all higher). Visual memory was better than auditory memory. Expressive and receptive language scores were age appropriate. Chapter 7 looks at the interplay of lipreading skills and other factors including intelligence, gender, age, socioeconomic status and degree of hearing loss in the hearing impaired cohort. Categories of good and poor lipreaders were established. Comparisons of the two groups’ speech, language and memory skills revealed that good lipreading skills were associated with degree of hearing loss, age and gender, as well as better expressive language, speech and supra-segmental characteristics. In contrast, receptive language, auditory and visual memory, intelligence and socioeconomic grouping did not discriminate between the groups. Some of these findings were surprising and were further explored in terms of the interplay of the skills with each other. In Chapter 8, the results of the study are discussed. Associations between lipreading skills and speech skills in a hearing impaired cohort are considered, as well as the relationship between memory, language and lipreading. A discussion on the effectiveness and potential use of the LACHI as an important assessment tool in clinical intervention with hearing and other disordered populations is presented. The overwhelming evidence from the data collected in this thesis indicates there is an association between good lipreading skills and better expressive speech skills in a hearing impaired cohort, with memory skills implicated in lipreading ability. This adds evidence to the theoretical discussions on multimodal speech processing and accessing the phonological code. Finally, the LACHI was found to be an efficient and effective measurement of lipreading skills in hearing children and children with hearing impairment.

This study examined the relative contributions of parental reports of child-related and parent-related stress to their estimates of expressive and receptive language skills on the Minnesota Child Development Inventory in 152 children referred to a communicative disorders clinic. Correlational analysis showed moderately high agreement between parental estimates and objective measures of expressive and receptive language ability. Multiple-regression analyses revealed that independent measures of language acquisition accounted for the greatest amount of variance in parental estimates of expressive and receptive language skills. Stressful child behavior accounted for a small but statistically significant proportion of the variance in estimates of expressive and receptive language skills. Parental stress, in contrast, did not contribute significantly to language estimates. These findings suggest that parents are able to formulate estimates of language development which are relatively independent of personal or child-related stressors.

TPR is a learning method that combines physical movements with verbal instructions to improve students' understanding of the language they hear. The aim of this research is to determine the application of the Total Physical Response (TPR) method to optimize students' receptive language abilities. This research investigates how TPR can improve students' ability to listen and respond to verbal instructions. Research shows that using TPR improves vocabulary comprehension, speeds responses to commands, and optimizes overall receptive language skills. Apart from that, TPR has also proven to be effective in creating a fun and interactive learning atmosphere, thus further motivating students to learn languages. This makes TPR an effective way to develop students' receptive language skills more comprehensively.

MyTeachingPartner (MTP) is a teacher professional development program designed to improve the quality of teacher-child interactions in pre-kindergarten classrooms and children's language and literacy development. The program includes language/literacy activities and two Web-based resources—video exemplars of effective interactions and individualized consultation—designed to support teachers' high quality implementation of these activities. This study examined the impacts of the MTP Web-based resources on the language and literacy development of 1,165 children during pre-kindergarten. Children whose teachers were randomly assigned to receive access to both the video exemplars and participated in consultation (MTP Consultancy n = 65) made greater gains in receptive language skills during pre-kindergarten compared to children whose teachers were randomly assigned to receive access to the video exemplars only (MTP Video Library n = 69). Further, among MTP Consultancy teachers, more hours of participating in the consultation process was positively associated with children's receptive language development, and more hours implementing the language/literacy activities was positively associated with children's language and literacy development. Implications for improving children's school readiness and promoting teachers' participation in professional development programs are discussed.

The emotional and behavioural functioning of siblings of children with special health care needs across childhood

Multiple imputation (MI) is a powerful statistical method for handling missing data. Standard implementations of MI are valid under the unverifiable assumption of missing at random (MAR), which is often implausible in practice. The delta-adjustment method, implemented within the MI framework, can be used to perform sensitivity analyses that assess the impact of departures from the MAR assumption on the final inference. This method requires specification of unknown sensitivity parameter(s) (termed as delta(s)). We illustrate the application of the delta-adjustment method using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, where the epidemiological question is to estimate the association between exposure to maternal emotional distress at age 4–5 years and total (social, emotional, and behavioural) difficulties at age 8–9 years. We elicited the sensitivity parameters for the outcome (????????) and exposure (????????) variables from a panel of experts. The elicited quantile judgements from each expert were converted into a suitable parametric probability distribution and combined using the linear pooling method. We then applied MI under MAR followed by sensitivity analyses under missing not at random (MNAR) using the delta-adjustment method. We present results from sensitivity analyses that used different percentile values of the pooled distributions for the delta parameters for ???????? and ????????, and demonstrate that twofold increases in the magnitude of the association between maternal distress and total difficulties are only observed for large departures from MAR.

هدفت الدراسة إلى الكشف عن فعالية التدريب على استراتيجيات التدخل المسبق للسلوك (ABI) في تنمية مهارات اللغة الاستقبالية والتعبيرية لدى الأطفال ذوي اضطراب طيف التوحد ، وتكونت عينة الدراسة الأساسية من (10) أطفال من ذوي اضطراب طيف التوحد ، وتم توزيعهن على مجموعتين، الأولى تجريبية، وعددها (6) أطفال، والثانية ضابطة، وعددها (4) أطفال، وتراوحت أعمارهم الزمنية ما بين (3.7 - 6) سنوات بمتوسط (4.4) سنوات وانحراف معياري(1.085)، وتراوحت نسب ذكائهم ما بين (70 - 77) بمتوسط (74.2) وانحراف معياري(2.529)، وتم تطبيق مقياس مهارات اللغة الاستقبالية والتعبيرية إعداد الباحثة - جلسات التدريب على استراتيجيات التدخل المسبق للسلوك (ABI) إعداد الباحثة، تم تدريب الأمهات على مدى (55) جلسة واستغرق تطبيق البرنامج فترة زمنية مدتها (14) أسبوعًا بمعدل (4) جلسات أسبوعيًا، وتوصلت نتائج الدراسة إلى وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين متوسطي رتب درجات المجموعتين التجريبية والضابطة في مهارات اللغة الاستقبالية والتعبيرية في القياس البعدي لصالح المجموعة التجريبية، كما لا توجد فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية بين متوسطي رتب درجات المجموعة التجريبية في مهارات اللغة الاستقبالية والتعبيرية في القياسين البعدي والتتبعي.

The relationship between initiation of and response to joint attention and components of receptive and expressive language in 20 children with autism between the ages of 3 and 5 years were examined. Receptive language skills were assessed using the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Expressive language skills were evaluated by examining Mean Length of Utterance and Type Token Ratio. These variables, along with data on responses to joint attention bids and initiation of joint attention were analyzed using Spearman calculations. The ability to respond to the joint attention bids of others was positively correlated with receptive language scores on the MSEL and mean length of utterance in children with autism. There was no relationship between the ability to initiate joint attention and the selected components of language examined.

Parent-child interaction is a foundational component of language development. This study examined parent-child interaction in deaf and hard-of-hearing children 6 or 9 months after they received hearing aids or cochlear implants. Expressive, receptive, and overall language skill were probed 9 to 18 months later. Thirteen DHH children and their parents participated in a videorecorded, semi-structured play interaction. Items from an adapted version of the Joint Engagement Rating Inventory were used evaluate parent-child interactions (i.e., fluency and con-nectedness, shared routines and rituals, child joint engagement, and parental sensitivity). Language skills were assessed using the Preschool Language Scales-5th (Zimmerman et al., 2011). Results indicate statistically significant re-lationships between child-parent joint engagement and expressive (p = .004), receptive language (p = .043), and total language scores (p = .007). The shared routines and rituals item was significantly related to expressive language (p = .037) and approached statistical significance with total language (p = .076) but was not significantly related to receptive language. The fluency and connectedness item was significantly related expressive language (p = .008) and total language (p = .028) but did not reach statistical significance with receptive language (p = .077). A quantitative measure of parental language input (i.e., words per minute) was not significantly related to any language variables.

This study examined the relationship between language skills specifically receptive and expressive language and the oral reading ability of Grade 1 learners. Using a quantitative correlational research design, the study aimed to determine how language proficiency influences learners’ oral reading performance in Sinugbuanong Binisaya, the mother tongue used for instruction. Data were gathered from 30 Grade 1 pupils, along with input from their teachers and parents, using a Language Skills Assessment Questionnaire and an oral reading test. Statistical analysis revealed a strong positive and significant relationship between receptive language and oral reading ability and between expressive language and oral reading ability. The findings indicate that learners with higher receptive and expressive language skills demonstrate greater fluency and comprehension in oral reading. These results align with previous research underscoring the critical role of oral language development in reading acquisition. The study highlights the importance of integrating listening, speaking, and reading activities into early literacy instruction and proposes the development of a Reading Skills Enhancement Plan that incorporates mother tongue-based, culturally relevant strategies to improve early literacy outcomes.

Sleep timing and child and parent outcomes in Australian 4–9-year-olds: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study

This study was designed to produce a new parent-report measure, the Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler Assessment of Communication and Language (DREAM-IT) in order to provide norms for the developmental skills of children aged 0-36 months in four areas: expressive language, receptive language, cognitive play and social skills. The scale was designed to be both broader and deeper than existing instruments that neglect one or more of these significant domains involved in early language. Items were chosen by a group of specialists with clinical experience working with the age group and with attention to the developmental literature. Caregivers were tested individually by a trained person who asked the questions and provided examples. In addition to an extensive health questionnaire, caregivers answered questions in Mandarin about their child's behaviour using a scale of 'not yet', 'sometimes' or 'always' or listing out words and/or sounds understood or said by the child. The 476 participating caregivers were recruited at maternal and child healthcare clinics centred in Chengdu, China, 191 of whom were tested a second time seven months later. The children were sampled in three-month age-bands from 0 to 36 months. The sample was balanced for child gender by age band, and parental education was balanced. Caregivers of 0-24-month-old children and caregivers of 12-36 months were each asked a different set of questions, to determine the appropriate age range and cutoff points for each question, requiring the sample size to be doubled for children aged 12-24 months. The results were subject to item-response theory analysis to remove outlying items, and the resulting internal reliability was high for each domain (average Cronbach's alpha=0.87). The final instrument (between 67 and 113 questions in total) was refined to include the least redundant questions that had the highest intercorrelations, with attention paid to coverage of all domains across the age range. Two scales were developed: one for children 0-18 months, the second for children aged 18-36 months. The longitudinal design permitted the creation of growth curves and norms for each domain for six-month intervals from 0 to 36 months. A small sample of 32 parents of children with Down syndrome aged 18-36 months provided validation that the scales are highly sensitive to developmental delay. The instrument shows considerable promise for detecting early communication problems in children in China. What is already known on the subject In China, efforts were made in recent years to develop language assessments for infants and toddlers, but limitations existed with the domains included and number of items included per age group. Many clinical practitioners also continued to rely on language subtests of general developmental scales, which were limited in depth and breadth of language skills tested and were never intended for diagnosis of language delay. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This paper discusses the development of a valid caregiver report instrument for early communication and language skills of infants and toddlers in mainland China. The Diagnostic Receptive Expressive Assessment of Mandarin-Infant Toddler (DREAM-IT) includes foundational domains necessary for language and communication development in young children (receptive language, expressive language, cognitive play and social communication domains). The results show strong internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) for each domain on a sample of 716 children sampled in three-month age bands from 0 to 36 months. The external validity proved strong when tested on a group of 32 young children with Down syndrome. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Besides helping to inform the diagnosis of language delays in infants and toddlers in China, the caregiver report instrument has special features to support clinical practitioners in a field that is just emerging in China. The unique support features include the automatic generation of a profile of relative strengths and weaknesses of the child on the report and the recommendation of child-specific caregiver coaching videos on a companion app.