European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 8, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                 new York times researchers Are focusing Wilh new men arty on he earliest stages of children s language acquisition As a key indicator of Normal and abnormal development they say that the age Al which infants Sefc when spoken to. Say a go babble and Coo May be important clues pointing to learning sensory or psychiatric disorders and 1he need for Early intervention to Osier language development intervention to stimulate language ability and perhaps Correct an underlying disorder they say. May head Oil behavioural and learning problems that Olton cause family disruptions and Lead to social and school Faure. Other researches who study factors that enhance language development Are finding that babies whose parents talk Wilh. Not Al them develop More rapid and Richer linguistic skills after decades of emphasizing visual motor skills and playing Down language As a measure of a child s development Many experts in the United Stales recognize linguistic skills to be the Besl predictor of a child s cognitive ability. Yel. They say rarely is a child s language development assessed with the same attention that is paid to physical growth and the acquisition of such motor skills As turning Over crawling and walking or fitting pegs into holes. To Lill this Gap in the care of Well babies paediatric researchers at the Kennedy Institute Lor handicapped children in Baltimore have developed a simple screening test to help physicians detect tags in language development sometimes months before babies say their first real word phrase or sentence. The researchers Are Arnold j. Capute Bruce k. Shapiro and Frederick b. Part or All physicians and associate professors of paediatrics Al the Johns Hopkins University school of Medicine. These doctors say the test can help to Call attention to develop Marrai problems Lite Cornu Nicanon hearing and learning disorders As Well As Aid i the assessment of More severe problems like cerebral palsy. Menlai retardation and autism that might not otherwise be noticed and treated until the child is much older. Experts in language and child development applauded the new test dubbed clams Tor clinical linguistic and auditory Milestone scale. The developers say the teat which has been standardized and validated has already attracted the interest of paediatricians As tar away As Australia. They describe it and ils potential uses in contemporary paediatrics. White widely used texts of child development explore some aspects of language they locus Pri Manly on visual motor skills. Clams is one of the first comprehensive systematic assessments devoted to language development. To be sure the Ages and stages of language development like the development of motor skills and physical growth vary among individual babies. And boys Are much More Likely than girls to lag in their language development. But the clams test can help physicians determine from parents and from the baby How Donery a child s prelim Public and language development resembles that of other children who Are the came  example according to the clams assessment a one week Obj baby typically shows some response to bound four month oct turns Lowa a a voice a Sirr no Oid Babbles and a nine Monu Vokt understands Tho word  by 14 months a baby typical a says three words and calf Pond to a simple verbal command. By 21 month Tho overage child s vocabulary has grown to sow its end by age 3 to 250 words plus sentences of Throe Monitor More rum phys clans who care or babies Are trained to detect delays in language development. When parents big language delays to the doctor a attention the typical response a. Don t worry Hel grow out of  tto waver according to or. T. Berry Brazelton. A Ped Merican a Harvard medal school such complacency is Ollen not justified in my zip Crenco to said when parents Are worried there s usually a Good reason to it Agazine the first year a Tnp it which  occur. Inch dual  protest 1.2s 1.6 b 6 7 11 u the Stem makes Tome Rei Poneto sound smiles in response stimulation com make Tang vows sounds  he ctr makes razing sound turns toward ringing Btl Babbles looks up   says dads and mams indiscriminately plays gesture games to Kapok a boo looks directly at ringing two understands won no uses Ditda of a mamas names responds to one Ste command and a turd   Wool us no real words  j Weand form Pitman Sty but Large i should  age in 13 14 is it 10 21 24 30 38 Brt third word responds to on byt4loftworrji sap afet Herlth text inc a sen can Pem � tvs body parts sytto20 Worts forms 2-wonjmtitlor� forms 2word sentences has so wan to Cibulsky us pronouns i  l us pronouns i ,yo4i us Alphouns Momot athe importance of baby talk although Early detection does t mean we can cure every problem Early identification can be of enormous Benefit to both the child and the family wed Judtih Cooper who runs the division of communicative disorders the Nasonal Institute of neurological diseases and stroke Cooper explained thai parents who were aware of a language problem would team How better to communicate with their cd and to adopt Mote Reaks Lic expectations Tor How the Chad respond for example Ralei than gelling angry when a child lads to pay attention or to mind the Parent May team to to a tacit an appropriate response by modifying Tho message or the wily in is div cd wednesday july 8. 1987 Cooper added what s really Nice about it is tool is in will help paediatricians and family physicians become aware of what s within Normal limits of language development and when they should become concerned it a child is referred to a Speed language pathologist for evaluation you Don t lose anything in the child turns out not to have a problem. But you can lose a lot of valuable time if the diagnosis of a real problem is delayed until the child is in  Earty identification of some language problems and therapy addressed to the deficiencies can minimize the damage that might result in the impairment were not recognized and treated until the child was 5 or 6 years old Cooper said. For Many children language difficulties impair not Only Reading and Overall intellectual development but can also interfere Wilh social skills and psychological adjustment said or. Carl Feinstein a child psychical not and director of developmental disabilities 91 Bradley Hospital in Providence. . A child who cannot communicate Wen May have trouble gelling along with other children and May be inclined to use physical rather than verbal Means for galling a message across. Many such children Are chronically frustrated because they Are so often misunderstood or Are unable to perform As expected. Their egos May be repeated assaulted by parents and owners who Tomk they Are stupid naughty or uncooperative. About half the children who Are treated at speech and hearing clinics have a diag Osame personality or psychiatric disorder such As an attention Dalimil or conduct disorder Feinstein said. However experts in language development Are not uniformly enthusiastic about the prospects of screening children for delays in linguistic landmarks. Catharine Snow professor of human development at Harvard s graduate school of education said there was a Senous Rah of Over diagnosis associated with Usu i assessment tool he clams. Normay Devi Pmj in Dren can vary enormous Tir in language development the said. A perfect to Norm Mitef genl to no Nelm May have a vocabulary of two words of of 800 words it is not at Al unusual Lor tas Tanc. Tor second chid to be a Isle  Cooper acknowledged Thil some Endren outgrew the taut to by Witt jul any intervention or it atm cars but. Tow added most Don t outgrow it and Cun Enby we have no Way to know who  she also emphasized that the diagnosis of a language Detol do Noi mean a chd was not let genl in Tome Emo Ven. Language is one of severs devote Palal arc that Are delayed but in others Only language development is at cycled a la a percentage of children no come to speech and he eng. Clinics do not to Vic other pro mems the stars and stripes Page 13