OBJECTIVE: To compare and analyze the clinical characteristics of children with delayed language acquisition due to two different diagnoses, which were specific language impairment (SLI, a primarily delayed language development) and global developmental delay (GDD, a language delay related to cognitive impairment). METHODS: Among 1,598 children who had visited the developmental delay clinic from March 2005 to February 2011, 467 children who were diagnosed with GDD and 183 children who were diagnosed with SLI were included in this study. All children were questioned about past, family, and developmental history, and their language competences and cognitive function were assessed. Some children got electroencephalography (EEG), in case of need. RESULTS: The presence of the perinatal risk factors showed no difference in two groups. In the children with GDD, they had more delayed acquisition of independent walking and more frequent EEG abnormalities compared with the children with SLI (p<0.01). The positive family history of delayed language development was more prevalent in children with SLI (p<0.01). In areas of language ability, the quotient of receptive language and expressive language did not show any meaningful statistical differences between the two groups. Analyzing in each group, the receptive language quotient was higher than expressive language quotient in both group (p<0.01). In the GDD group, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID-II) showed a marked low mental and motor quotient while the Wechsler Intelligence Scale showed low verbal and nonverbal IQ. In the SLI group, the BSID-II and Wechsler Intelligence Scale showed low scores in mental area and verbal IQ but sparing motor area and nonverbal IQ. CONCLUSION: The linguistic profiles of children with language delay could not differentiate between SLI and GDD. The clinicians needed to be aware of these developmental issues, and history taking and clinical evaluation, including cognitive assessment, could be helpful to diagnose adequately and set the treatment plan for each child.
Child ; Child Development ; Diagnosis ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Intelligence ; Language ; Language Development ; Language Development Disorders ; Linguistics ; Risk Factors ; Walking ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: It is well known that expressive language impairment is commonly less severe than receptive language impairment in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, this result is based on experiments in Western countries with Western language scales. This study tries to find whether the result above is applicable for toddlers in a non-Western country; more specifically, in Korea with non-Western language scales. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants were 166 toddlers aged between 20 months and 50 months who visited the clinic from December 2010 to January 2013. The number of toddlers diagnosed as ASD and developmental language delay (DLD) was 103 and 63, respectively. Language development level was assessed using Sequenced Language Scale for Infants (SELSI), a Korean language scale. Using SELSI, each group was divided into 3 sub-groups. Moreover, the group difference by age was observed by dividing them into three age groups. Chi-square test and linear-by-linear association was used for analysis. RESULTS: Receptive language ability of the DLD group was superior to that of the ASD group in all age groups. However, expressive language ability in both groups showed no difference in all age groups. A greater proportion of expressive dominant type was found in ASD. The 20-29 months group in ASD showed the largest proportion of expressive language dominant type in the three age groups, suggesting that the younger the ASD toddler is, the more severe the receptive language impairment is. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that receptive-expressive language characteristics in ASD at earlier age could be useful in the early detection of ASD.
Child Development Disorders, Pervasive/*complications ; Child, Preschool ; Developmental Disabilities/*complications ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; *Language ; *Language Development ; Language Development Disorders/complications/*diagnosis ; Language Tests ; Male ; Republic of Korea

PURPOSE: High-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves pragmatic impairment of language skills. Among numerous tasks for assessing pragmatic linguistic skills, idioms are important to evaluating high-functioning ASD. Nevertheless, no assessment tool has been developed with specific consideration of Korean culture. Therefore, we designed the Korean Autism Social Language Task (KASLAT) to test idiom comprehension in ASD. The aim of the current study was to introduce this novel psychological tool and evaluate idiom comprehension deficits in high-functioning ASD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants included 42 children, ages 6-11 years, who visited our child psychiatric clinic between April 2014 and May 2015. The ASD group comprised 16 children; the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group consisted of 16 children. An additional 10 normal control children who had not been diagnosed with either disorder participated in this study. Idiom comprehension ability was assessed in these three groups using the KASLAT. RESULTS: Both ASD and ADHD groups had significantly lower scores on the matched and mismatched tasks, compared to the normal control children (matched tasks mean score: ASD 11.56, ADHD 11.56, normal control 14.30; mismatched tasks mean score: ASD 6.50, ADHD 4.31, normal control 11.30). However, no significant differences were found in scores of KASLAT between the ADHD and ASD groups. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that children with ASD exhibit greater impairment in idiom comprehension, compared to normal control children. The KASLAT may be useful in evaluating idiom comprehension ability.
Autism Spectrum Disorder/*diagnosis/psychology ; Child ; *Comprehension ; Female ; Humans ; Language ; Language Development Disorders/*diagnosis/psychology ; Language Disorders/*psychology ; Language Tests/*standards ; Male ; Reproducibility of Results

Child ; Humans ; Speech ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Language Development Disorders/diagnosis* ; Speech Disorders

OBJECTIVETo explore the mode of intervention for children with language developmental delay under the current condition of China.

METHODThe study population consisted of a cross-sectional convenience sample of 206 children, ages 13 - 24 months, from six communities of Qingpu in Shanghai. Parents were asked to complete detailed questionnaires about their child's spontaneous use of vocabularies. Fourteen children with vocabularies less than 5 percentile of every age group were identified as having language developmental delay. During the 12-month intervention, developmental pediatricians did the developmental assessment for every child and set goals of intervention for everybody according to their language abilities and family situation. Then kindergarten teachers who got the training in language therapy carried out the intervention. Gesell development scale was used for developmental assessment before and after the intervention.

RESULTSThe developmental quotient (DQ) in areas of language and personal-social behavior was elevated significantly after 12 months of intervention (P < 0.01). The developmental quotient (DQ) in the area of adaptive behavior was also elevated (P < 0.05). There was an obvious catching up effect in both areas of language and personal-social behavior. Increased developmental age in both areas was (18.0 +/- 5.3) months and (16.2 +/- 5.9) months, respectively. The language ability of 71.4% samples was in the normal range at the end.

CONCLUSIONSThe mode of medical and educational cooperation to give early intervention for children with language developmental delay is feasible. It can significantly improve the abilities in language and communication of children 1 - 2 years of age.

China ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Early Intervention (Education) ; Humans ; Infant ; Language Development Disorders ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Language Tests ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study examines changes in developmental profiles of children with language delay over time and the clinical significance of assessment conducted at age 2-3 years. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 70 children (62 male, 8 female), who had visited the hospital because of delayed language development at 2-3 years, and were reassessed at ages 5-6. Language and cognitive abilities were assessed using multiple scales at the initial and follow-up visits. RESULTS: At the initial test, 62 of the 70 children had mental development index (MDI) below 70 of Bayley Scales of Infant Development Test II. Of the 62 children in the follow-up assessment, 30 children (48.4%) remained within the same cognitive range (full-scale intelligence quotient, FSIQ<70 of Wechsler preschool and primary scale of intelligence), 12 had borderline intellectual functioning (FSIQ, 70-85), 6 improved to average intellectual functioning (FSIQ>85), and 5 had specific language impairment, 9 had autism spectrum disorders. At the initial test, 38 of the 70 children had cognitive developmental quotients (C-DQ) below 70. Of the 38 children in the follow-up assessment, 23 children (60.5%) remained within the same cognitive range (FSIQ<70). The correlation coefficient for MDI and FSIQ was 0.530 (P<0.0001) and that for C-DQ and FSIQ was 0.727 (P<0.0001). There was a strong correlation between C-DQ and FSIQ, and a moderate correlation between MDI and FSIQ. CONCLUSION: Low MDI scores reflect a specific delay in cognitive abilities, communication skills, or both. The C-DQ, receptive language development quotient, and social maturity quotient also help to distinguish between children with isolated language delay and children with cooccurring cognitive impairment. Moreover, changes in the developmental profile during preschool years are not unusual in children with language delay. Follow-up reassessments prior to the start of school are required for a more accurate diagnosis and intervention.
Child ; Child Development ; Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Child, Preschool* ; Cognition ; Diagnosis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Intelligence ; Language Development Disorders ; Language Development* ; Male ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies ; Weights and Measures

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the usefulness of MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories-Korean (M-B CDI-K) short form as a screening test in children with language developmental delay. METHODS: From April 2010 to May 2012, a total of 87 patients visited the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation of National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital with the complaint of language developmental delay and were enrolled in this study. All patients took M-B CDI-K short form and Sequenced Language Scale for Infants (SELSI) or Preschool Receptive-Expressive Language Scale (PRES) according to their age. RESULTS: The study group consisted of 58 male patients and 29 female patients and the mean age was 25.9 months. The diagnosis are global developmental delay in 26 patients, selective language impairment in 31 patients, articulation disorder in 7 patients, cerebral palsy in 8 patients, autism spectrum disorder in 4 patients, motor developmental delay in 4 patients, and others in 7 patients. Seventy-one patients are diagnosed with language developmental delay in SELSI or PRES and of them showed 69 patients a high risk in the M-B CDI-K short form. Sixteen patients are normal in SELSI or PRES and of them showed 14 patients non-high risk in the M-B CDI-K short form. The M-B CDI-K short form has 97.2% sensitivity, 87.5% specificity, a positive predictive value of 0.97, and a negative predictive value of 0.88. CONCLUSION: The M-B CDI-K short form has a high sensitivity and specificity so it is considered as an useful screening tool in children with language developmental delay. Additional researches targeting normal children will be continued to supply the specificity of the M-B CDI-K short form.
Articulation Disorders ; Cerebral Palsy ; Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Child* ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Language Development Disorders ; Language Development* ; Male ; Mass Screening* ; National Health Programs ; Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed for evaluating the clinical usefulness of the Korean Denver Developmental Screening Test II (KDDST II) for screening of speech-language delays, for evaluating the co-morbidity of psychiatric disorders and examining the prevalence of hearing impairment in speech-language delays. METHOD: Fifty eight preschoolers whose chief complaints fell into 'late talker', 'dysarticulation' or 'stuttering' performed KDDST II, speech-language evaluation and hearing screening. Psychiatric consultation was performed if the child had any behavioral or emotional red flags. RESULTS: More than 50% were classified as 'language delay only', 25.9% as 'language delay with speech disorder', 22.4% as 'phonological disorder only'. Eleven children (34.4%) with language delay were classified as 'global developmental delay'. Sensitivity of KDDST II as a screening tool of language delay was only 84.4%. Two cases of hearing impairment and 3 cases of complicated otitis media were detected by hearing screening. Seventeen children (29.3%) also had psychiatric disorders such as attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of whole spectrums of development and hearing screening were recommended in the children with speech-language delays. Psychiatric consultation should be also considered in a case of any behavioral or emotional concerns.
Anxiety Disorders ; Child ; Autism Spectrum Disorder ; Diagnosis* ; Hearing ; Hearing Loss ; Humans ; Language Development Disorders ; Language Development* ; Mass Screening ; Otitis Media ; Prevalence

Angelman syndrome is a neurogenetic disorder which results from the loss of expression of a maternal imprinted gene, UBE3A, mapped within 15q11-q13 presenting with various neurodevelopmental problems. We report a 3 year-old-girl who had severe developmental delay, speech impairment, ataxic gait, jerky movement and recurrent seizures with abnormal EEG, characteristic pattern with high amplitude slow spike-and-wave discharge on the bifrontal region. The patient was genetically confirmed Angelman syndrome who had two episode of status epilepticus with cortical atrophic changes on her left hemisphere. Angelman syndrome should be suspected in differential diagnosis in infant who has severe speech and developmental delay, tremulous movement accompanied by cryptogenic seizure disorders including characteristic EEG features.
Angelman Syndrome* ; Atrophy* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy ; Gait ; Humans ; Infant ; Language Development Disorders ; Seizures ; Status Epilepticus

Mental retardation(MR) is one of the most common developmental disabilities, which is characterized by deficits in intellectual and adaptive functions. Most children with MR have cognitive limitation in the mild range. With respect to the etiology, it is believed that genetic and environmental factors are interrelated and show variable pictures. Most children with MR present with speech and language delay during the early years. The diagnosis can be made by clinical features and neuropsychological tests of intelligence and adaptive functioning. The treatment is limited, but many associated problems are amenable to multidisciplinary interventions. The article will review the recent advances in the management of MR and other neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
Child ; Developmental Disabilities ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability* ; Intelligence ; Language Development Disorders ; Neuropsychological Tests