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While language sampling is considered by some to represent the gold standard for assessing oral language in children (Heilmann et al., 2008), a variety of assessment tools are available and widely used by clinicians. Thus, it is important for clinicians to understand how these alternate measures may represent language abilities within the same individual. The current study examined associations among three commonly used assessment tools that were administered to a group of toddlers, each diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder: 1) a play-based language sample yielding measures of grammatical complexity (MLU) and lexical diversity (NDW); 2) a widely used parent report measure of vocabulary comprehension and production (MCDI); and, 3) a standardized language test (PLS-4). Results revealed that the spoken language level of the child affected the associations between assessment tools. In general, however, concurrent and longitudinal associations between the three measures were observed for both the minimally verbal and verbally fluent subgroups of participants.
Funding Source: NIH R01 DC007223 and by NIH T32 DC05359-06 |
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