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Event Details
Description of Event
Return to Language Benchmarks in Children with ASD
| Language Phase | Language Domain | Measures | Variables | Range in Typical Development | Example | Minimum Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Words 12 - 18 months | Phonology | NLS | CV combinations or | CV-CVC | hi, Mommy | CV, or |
| NLS | Consonant Inventory | 2 - 8 different consonants | m, b, y, n, w, d, p, h (Early 8) | 4 consonants | ||
| Vocabulary | NLS | # different words used referentially in 20 mins or | 2 - 15 words | more, bubble, go, open ball | 5 types and 20 tokens, or | |
| Parent Report | # different word roots or | (range for 13-18 mo.) | MCDI | AE for 15 months, or | ||
| Direct Assessment | Confrontation naming | (range for 13-18 mo.) | Mullen; Reynell | AE for 15 months | ||
| Pragmatics | NLS | # different communicative functions or | 2 - 5 functions | comments; request; | Comments + 1 other, or | |
| Direct Assessment | # communication functions | (range for 13-18 mo.) | CSBS | AE for 15 months | ||
| Word Combinations 18 - 30 months | Phonology | NLS | CV combinations or | CV - CCVCC | go, drink | Closed syllables, or |
| Word structures or | 1 - 3 syllable words | Syllable words, or | ||||
| % fully intelligible or | 40 - 80% | 50 % intelligible, or | ||||
| # consonants | 8 - 18 consonants | Early 8 + t, ng, k, g, f, v, ch, j | 10 consonants | |||
| Vocabulary | NLS | # different words used referentially in 20 mins or | 10 - 50 words | 30 words, or | ||
| Parent Report | # different words or | (range for 21-27 mo.) | MCDI; LDS | 24 mo. AE, or | ||
| Direct Assessment | Confrontation naming | 21 - 27 mo. age range | EOWVT | 24 mo. AE | ||
| Grammar | NLS | mean length of utterance or | MLU: 1.1 - 2.4 (in morphemes) | MLU=1.8, or | ||
| Parent Report | mean length in words of 3 longest utterances or | (range for 21-27 mo.; on MCDI:2.6-5.5) | MCDI | MCDI: 3.8, or | ||
| Direct Assessment | See text | 24 mo. AE | ||||
| Pragmatics | NLS | # different communicative functions or | 3 - 6 functions | comments, request; turn-taking | comments, request, turn-taking, or | |
| Proportional JA+Social/Total Comm. Acts or | .3 - .7 | 0.5, or | ||||
| Conversational functions or | responds and initiates | answer/ask question | 2 initiations+ 2 responses, or | |||
| Parent Report | Inventory of child's communicative use | 21 - 27 mo. age range | LUI | 24 mo. AE | ||
| Sentences 30 - 48 months | Phonology | NLS | % fully intelligible or | 70-100% | 75% intelligible, or | |
| NLS | Consonant Inventory or | 16-24 different C; 75% correct | Previous Cs + sh, th, s, z, l, zh | |||
| Direct Assessment | AE score | GFTA-2 | 36 mo. AE | |||
| Vocabulary | NLS | # different word roots or | 70-136 in 65 utterances | SALT norms | 92 in 65 utterances, or | |
| Direct Assessment | AE score | (range for 30-48 mo.) | 36 mo. AE | |||
| Grammar | NLS | MLU in morphemes or | 2.7 - 4.0 MLU | MLU=3.0, or | ||
| Direct Assessment | AE score | TEGI; SPELT-3 | 36 mo. AE | |||
| Pragmatics | Elicited NLS | Discourse functions or | narration | pretense; talk about past/future | 1 narrative, or | |
| NLS | Conversational topic-related turn taking or | 2 full turns on same topic, or | ||||
| following adult utterance | ||||||
| Parent Report | Inventory of child's communicative use or | 30 -48 mo. age range | LUI | 36 mo. AE, or | ||
| Direct Assessment | Communicative functions | 30 -48 mo. age range | CASL |
Key
Tests
Mullen: Mullen Scales of Early Learning (Mullen, 1995)
Reynell: Reynell Developmental Language Scales (Reynell & Gruber, 1990)
CSBS: Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales (Wetherby & Prizant, 2002)
MCDI: MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson et al., 2007)
LDS: Language Development Survey (Rescorla, 1989)
EOWVT: Expresssive One Word Vocabulary Test - Revised (Gardner, 1990)
LUI: Language Use Inventory (O'Neil, 2007)
GFTA-2: Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation -2 (Goldman & Fristoe, 2000)
SALT norms: Miller & Chapman (1981)
TEGI: Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (Rice & Wexler, 2001)
SPELT 3: Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test 3 (Dawson & Stout, 2003)
CASL: Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999)
Other Abbreviations
NLS: Natural Language Sample
AE: Age equivalent
MLU: Mean Length of Utterance
C: Consonant
V: Vowel