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| 2. |
- Miniscalco, Carmela, 1963
(författare)
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Inte bara sen språkutveckling
- 2009
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Ingår i: Barn läser och skriver - specialpedagogiska perspektiv. Bjar L och Frylmark A, red. - Lund : Studentlitteratur. - 9789144048741 ; , s. 149-65
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 3. |
- Miniscalco, Carmela, 1963
(författare)
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Language problems at 2½ years of age and their relationship with school-age language impairment and neuropsychiatric disorders
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: International research has shown that language delay (LD) is associated with social, cognitive, emotional and/or behavioural deficiencies, but there is still a need for extended knowledge about LD at early age and its relationship with long-term language impairment and neuropsychiatric disorders in Swedish children. Aims: To study (a) if children with a positive screening result or a negative screening result at 2½ years of age showed persistent or transient language difficulties at 6 years of age and, (b) whether or not children identified by language screening at 2½ years of age were diagnosed with language, neurodevelopmental and/or neuropsychiatric impairments at school age. Materials and methods: At the 2½-year screening 25 children with LD and 80 screening-negative children constituted the study population, i.e. in all 105 children (Study I). At the 6-year examination the follow-up group consisted of 99 children ? 22 children from the LD group and 77 children from the screening-negative group (Study II). The 7-8-year-old follow-up (study III and IV) included 21 of the 22 children with LD who participated in study II. Screening results from nurses were re-classified blindly (study I) by the use of Reynell Developmental Language Scale. Study II included tests that examined both reception and production in different areas of speech and language as well as linguistic awareness. Study III and IV consisted of a multidisciplinary in-dept examination of language, intellectual functions and the presence of neuropsychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders. Results: The sensitivity of the screening tool was 0.69, and the specificity was 0.93 (study I). The 6-year examination showed that there was still a highly persistent and significant difference between the children with and without LD on almost every variable tested (study II). In studies III-IV it was found that 62% of the LD children also had received a neuropsychiatric diagnosis at age 7-8 years: eight children were diagnosed with ADHD and five children with ASD. Half of the 21 children with LD had marked problems with performance on narrative tasks according to the Bus Story test and the NEPSY Narrative Memory Subtest independently of co-occurrence of neuropsychiatric disorder. The only difference between the children with LD pure and those who had LD+AD/HD or LD+ASD was on Freedom from Distractibility, where children with AD/HD and ASD scored low. In addition, children with ASD had a much lower overall cognitive level (FSIQ) and poorer results on tasks assessing Processing Speed. Conclusion: It is possible to identify children with LD at 2½ years of age. All children identified with LD at 2½ years of age also appeared to be at later risk of complex neurodevelopmental/ neuropsychiatric disorders. Remaining language problems at 6 years of age strongly predicted the presence of neuropsychiatric/ neurodevelopmental disorders at age 7-8 years. The observed difficulties, including narrative problems, in the LD children indicate that these children are at high risk of persistent language impairment and future problems concerning reading and writing. Clinical implications: Children identified with late developing language at 2½ years of age need to be followed carefully for several years. Follow-up should include neuropsychiatric as well as speech-language assessments, and the multidisciplinary team should be particularly prepared to diagnose ASD, AD/HD, and various kinds of learning disorders. Assessment of non-word repetition, semantic and narrative skills at the follow-up occasions may be a useful clinical tool for identifying children with more persistent subtle language problems who are at risk of academic failure.
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| 4. |
- Miniscalco, Carmela, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Language skills at age 6 years in Swedish children screened for language delay at 2(1/2) years of age.
- 2005
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Ingår i: Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992). - 0803-5253. ; 94:12, s. 1798-806
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study concerns language outcome in 6-y-old children who participated in a longitudinal community-based study of 105 children screened for language delay (LD) at 2(1/2) y of age. The purpose was to investigate (1) whether results from the 2(1/2)-y screening were persistent at 6 y of age, and (2) what language domains at age 6 were difficult for (a) children with LD at age 2(1/2) y and (b) children with normal language (LN) at the same age. Significant differences between LD and LN at age 2(1/2) y were persistent at age 6. The vulnerability that was identified at 2(1/2) y of age, such as problems with going from single-word utterances to multi-word utterances, seems to persist as delayed development at different language levels and across language domains. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that children who failed the 2(1/2)-y screening are at high risk of having persistent language problems at age 6 y.
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| 5. |
- Miniscalco, Carmela, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Language skills at age 6 years in Swedish children screened for language delay at 2½ years of age
- 2005
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Ingår i: Acta Paediatrica. - : Wiley. - 0803-5253 .- 1651-2227. ; 94:12, s. 1798-1806
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study concerns language outcome in 6-y-old children who participated in a longitudinal community-based study of 105 children screened for language delay (LD) at 2(1/2) y of age. The purpose was to investigate (1) whether results from the 2(1/2)-y screening were persistent at 6 y of age, and (2) what language domains at age 6 were difficult for (a) children with LD at age 2(1/2) y and (b) children with normal language (LN) at the same age. Significant differences between LD and LN at age 2(1/2) y were persistent at age 6. The vulnerability that was identified at 2(1/2) y of age, such as problems with going from single-word utterances to multi-word utterances, seems to persist as delayed development at different language levels and across language domains. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that children who failed the 2(1/2)-y screening are at high risk of having persistent language problems at age 6 y.
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| 6. |
- Miniscalco, Carmela, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Narrative skills, cognitive profiles and neuropsychiatric disorders in 7-8-year-old children with late developing language.
- 2007
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Ingår i: International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders. - : Wiley. - 1368-2822 .- 1460-6984. ; 42:6, s. 665-681
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: A community-representative sample of screened and clinically examined children with language delay at 2.5 years of age was followed up at school age when their language development was again examined and the occurrence of neuropsychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorder (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or autism spectrum disorder (ASD)) was documented. AIMS: (1) To determine whether these 7-8-year-old children with a history of language delay have deficits in narrative skills compared with the age norms of standardized tests; and (2) to analyse if there is a relationship between narrative outcome, cognitive profile, and neuropsychiatric diagnosis. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Twenty-one children recruited from a community sample and with a history of language delay underwent an in-depth multidisciplinary examination at 7-8 years of age. Their narrative and cognitive skills were examined using the Bus Story Test, the Narrative Memory Subtest from the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment (NEPSY), and The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III (WISC-III). OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The three measures of the Bus Story Test (information, sentence length, and subordinate clauses) were below age norms for all 21 children, of whom 13 also had a neuropsychiatric diagnosis, i.e. ADHD and/or ASD. Half of the children with language delay had problems on Bus Story Test Information and on the Narrative Memory subtest independently of co-occurrence of neuropsychiatric disorder. The only difference across the children with language delay pure and those who had language delay plus ADHD or language delay plus ASD was on Freedom from Distractibility, where children with ADHD and ASD scored low. In addition, children with ASD had a much lower overall cognitive level (FSIQ) and poorer results on Processing Speed. CONCLUSIONS: Swedish children with late developing language at 2.5 years of age have persisting difficulties with oral narrative skills at age 7-8 years. However, almost none of the children with language delay had problems when responding to story-related questions--irrespective of whether or not they had an additional diagnosis of ADHD or ASD. Thus, asking story-related questions may be a good intervention strategy when working with these children. Because narrative difficulties are a reflection of linguistic, cognitive and/or pragmatic/social difficulties, it is important for clinicians of different specialties to work in close collaboration in order to establish a reliable measure that can be used in clinical assessment. Poor results on the WISC-III Kaufman Freedom from Distractibility factor had a strong relationship with a neuropsychiatric diagnosis (not just ADHD), whereas poor results on Bus Story Test Information or NEPSY Narrative Memory (measured as Free Recall) did not. Narrative problems were present among the language delay children even in the presence of adequate speech and verbal comprehension. Thus, narrative assessment may be a useful tool for identifying children with more persistent subtle language and pragmatic problems who are at risk for academic failure.
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| 7. |
- Miniscalco, Carmela, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental outcome of children at age 6 and 7 years who screened positive for language problems at 30 months.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology. - 0012-1622. ; 48:5, s. 361-366
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a prospective study at school age of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental outcome of language delay suspected at child health screening around 30 months of age. In a community sample, 25 children (21 males, 4 females) screening positive and 80 children (38 males, 42 females) screening negative for speech and language problems at age 30 months were examined in detail for language disorders at age 6 years. The screen-positive children were then followed for another year and underwent in-depth neuropsychiatric examination by assessors blind to the results of previous testing. Detailed follow-up results at age 7 years were available for 21 children. Thirteen of these 21 children (62%) had a major neuropsychiatric diagnosis (autism, atypical autism, Asperger's syndrome, attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]), or combinations of these. Two further children (10%) had borderline IQ with no other major diagnosis. We conclude that children in the general population who screen positive for speech and language problems before age 3 years appear to be at very high risk of autism spectrum disorders or ADHD, or both, at 7 years of age. Remaining language problems at age 6 years strongly predict the presence of neuropsychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders at age 7 years.
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| 8. |
- Miniscalco, Carmela, 1963, et al.
(författare)
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Non-word repetition in young school-age children with language impairment and/or neuropsychiatric disorder.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Research in Developmental Disabilities. - : Elsevier BV. - 0891-4222. ; 30:6, s. 1145-1154
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We wanted to test the hypothesis that neuropsychiatric disorder (NPD) with language impairment (LI) is a more severe variant of NPD than NPD without LI, and that this variant can be easily picked up by a non-word repetition (NWR) task. We therefore tested 56 (mean 7.6, range 6.1-9.5 years) children divided into three subgroups: one with LI only (n=8), one with NPD only (n=16) and one with a combination of LI and NPD (n=32). We used a Swedish NWR test, a real word repetition test, the Verbal Comprehension and Freedom from Distractibility factor of the WISC-III. All three subgroups had difficulties with NWR and real word repetition compared to the norm, but the within-subgroup variations were considerable. The subgroup with NPD only performed best on both NWR and real word repetitions, but remarkably poorly given that they had never been noted for having language problems. NPD with LI consistently had the lowest scores. Of the three subgroups, only NPD with LI scored lower than the normal range on Verbal Comprehension and Freedom from Distractibility. Significant correlations were found between NWR on the one hand, and Freedom from Distractibility and Verbal Comprehension, on the other, indicating that poor results on a NWR test is probably not a "clean" measure of speech and language impairment, but also taps into other neuropsychological constructs, including executive dysfunction. In conclusion, the study confirmed the hypothesis that NPD with LI constitutes a more severe variant of NPD, and that this variant can easily be picked up by a quick and easy NWR screening test.
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