CENTER FOR COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS

Roseman Building Room 1011 Phone: (262) 472-1301

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Fax: (262) 472-5210
800 West Main Street
Whitewater, WI 53190

1
*Denotes use of a pseudonym
lnlC8MAL ASSLSSMLn1 8LC81
lall 2013
I) !"#$%!&'!$( !$&*+,-%!*$
Chlld's name: !acob*
uaLe of 8lrLh: 12/12/2010
CA: 2 years, 11 monLhs
II) !$&*+,-. -//#//,#$% *& /0##123 .-$(4-(# -$" 1*,,4$!1-%!*$ /5!../
ln order Lo descrlbe !acob's currenL communlcaLlon ablllLles, we observed and lnLeracLed wlLh !acob 3
Llmes over a 2-week perlod ln november 2013 and collecLed a speech and language sample on
november 6Lh.
A) !"#$%"& !()&*+,-%.")
We observed !acob durlng sLory Llme, lunch clean-up and free play. AL Lhe sLarL of sLory Llme, !acob
plcked ouL a book and found hls nap spoL. !acob pald aLLenLlon and acLlvely parLlclpaLed durlng Lhe
readlng of boLh books. Pe asked quesLlons perLalnlng Lo Lhe book. Pe responded approprlaLely
when asked quesLlons. Pe was able Lo name characLers and Lell us whaL Lhe sLory was abouL.

uurlng lunch clean up Lhe chlldren were expecLed Lo perform dally rouLlnes lndependenLly. Pe was
able Lo follow dlrecLlons when hls Leachers asked, such as: brushlng hls LeeLh, washlng hls hands and
puLLlng away hls dlshes.

We also observed !acob durlng free play. AL Lhe sLarL he was playlng wlLh hls Lrucks LhaL he had
broughL from home. 1he chlldren were expecLed Lo play lndependenLly and quleLly. !acob was able
Lo play wlLh hls Lrucks quleLly. AfLer a few mlnuLes hls Leacher Lold hlm LhaL he needed Lo puL hls
Lrucks away ln hls cubby so LhaL he would noL lose Lhem. Pe dld noL wanL Lo puL hls Lrucks away and
he screamed no!" 1hls was Lhe only Llme he dld noL follow classroom or Leacher expecLaLlons from
whaL we saw. We Lhen sLarLed readlng a book. !acob was able Lo use hls words Lo ask and answer
quesLlons abouL Lhe book. Pe would mlmlc boLh my acLlons and my verballzaLlons. !acob's Leacher
reporLed LhaL !acob ls lncredlbly LalkaLlve and en[oys playlng wlLh hls peers. 1hls behavlor was
evldenL ln all Lhree rouLlnes we observed.
B) Speech and Language Sample Analysls
1o furLher evaluaLe !acob's language and communlcaLlon skllls, we audlo recorded a 10-mlnuLe
conversaLlon we had wlLh !acob durlng sLory- Llme. uurlng Lhls conversaLlon, !acob produced 89
compleLe and lnLelllglble uLLerances. We Lranscrlbed and analyzed Lhe lengLh and complexlLy of
!acob's language uslng Lhe compuLer program /0)-&1,-%2 3",40)%) .5 $,"67,6& 8*,")2*%9-) (SAL1).
uslng Lhls program, we compared hls performance Lo a reference daLabase of language samples
from 34 chlldren wlLhln Lhe same age range (+/- 6 monLhs). 1he resulLs are summarlzed ln Lhe Lable
below.


CENTER FOR COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS
Roseman Building Room 1011 Phone: (262) 472-1301
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Fax: (262) 472-5210
800 West Main Street
Whitewater, WI 53190

2
*Denotes use of a pseudonym
:&,)7*& :,*%&
36&;<==
>&&*)
?@ABC 36&);<B#A<B
/D ,E,0
5*.1 1&,"
F,"6&
Mean lengLh of senLences ln words 3.08 3.22 -0.23 2.23 - 4.41
Mean lengLh of uLLerance ln morphemes 3.32 3.31 -0.32 2.49 - 4.96
# ulfferenL Words 78 93.82 -1.92 77 - 116
1he average lengLh of hls uLLerances was 3.08 words, whlch was wlLhln Lhe range of values Lyplcal for
chlldren ln Lhls age range. !acob's language has characLerlsLlcs (e.g., possesslves ('s) and use of arLlcles
(a, Lhe)) LhaL are Lyplcal of 8rown's Language SLage lv. 1he predlcLed chronologlcal age range for Lhls
sLage ls 31 Lo 30 monLhs. Clven hls chronologlcal age of 33 monLhs, !acob ls on Lrack wlLh hls peers
when lL comes Lo comblnlng words lnLo senLences. Pe produced 78 dlfferenL words ln Lhe sample
compared Lo an average of 93 words produced by hls age-maLched peers. ln oLher words, he used
abouL 73 of Lhe number of dlfferenL words LhaL hls peers used ln a slmllar sampllng condlLlon.
We also analyzed Lhe sample Lo deLermlne Lhe reasons why !acob communlcaLes:
G.117"%2,-%+& H"-&"-
I)&J
36& .5
K1&*6&"2&
KL,194& ?71(&* .5
!227**&"2&)
M .5 8.-,4
I--&*,"2&)
K,*40 +)
$,-&
8equesL for AcLlon 8 Lo 18 Cpen" 2 2
8equesL for Cb[ecL 8 Lo 18 l wanL plnk" 2 2
roLesL 8 Lo 18 no" 3 3
CommenL 8 Lo 18 lL sLlcks" 33 37
44
Answer 18 - 24 Answers quesLlons e.g.
Where do you wanL lL?"
uL lL here."
39 44
AcknowledgemenL 18 - 24 lmlLaLed cllnlclan's
uLLerance So preLLy"
3 3
8equesL for lnformaLlon 18 - 24 Asklng abouL Lhlngs
around her
7 8
33
%6789 88
Pe communlcaLed mosL ofLen (44 of Lhe Llme) for Lhe purpose of 'answerlng' or respondlng Lo a
quesLlon asked. Cnly 11 of Lhe Llme dld he use Lhe laLer appearlng communlcaLlve funcLlons, such
as requesLlng lnformaLlon or acknowledglng whaL hls conversaLlonal parLners sald. 1hese laLer-
appearlng lnLenLlons reflecL more maLure communlcaLlve behavlor because chlldren are referrlng Lo
whaL Lhelr conversaLlonal parLner ls saylng raLher Lhan [usL referrlng Lo ob[ecL or evenLs around
Lhem.

A consonanL and vowel lnvenLory was complled of all Lhe sounds LhaL !acob produced LhroughouL
Lhe lnLeracLlon. !acob produced 9 dlfferenL vowels and 18 dlfferenL consonanL sounds [/b/, /p/, /d/,
/L/, /f/, /v/, /g/, /k/, /r/, /m/, /n/, /s/, /z/, /[/ as ln you, /w/, /h/, /!/ as ln , /L"/ as ln change] ln word
lnlLlal poslLlon lncludlng phones aL slx ma[or places of arLlculaLlon (bllablal, lablodenLal, alveolar,
palaLal, velar and gloLLal) and Lhe manner classes of sLops, frlcaLlves, nasals and glldes. 1he number
of consonanLs presenL ln an lnvenLory can be used as an lndex of severlLy of phonologlcal delay.

CENTER FOR COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS
Roseman Building Room 1011 Phone: (262) 472-1301
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Fax: (262) 472-5210
800 West Main Street
Whitewater, WI 53190

3
*Denotes use of a pseudonym
1yplcally developlng 2 year-olds usually produce abouL 14 dlfferenL consonanL sounds ln 10-mlnuLe
communlcaLlon sample (aul and !ennlngs, 1992). 1herefore, !acob's phoneLlc lnvenLory ls above
average compared Lo whaL ls expecLed for hls age.
III) /4,,-+' *& !$&*+,-. -//#//,#$% +#/4.%/
8ased on our speech/language sample analysls and observaLlons, we conclude LhaL !acob's speech and
language skllls are wlLhln normal llmlLs compared Lo hls age-maLched peers. Pls mean lengLh of
uLLerance and vocabulary slze ls ln Lhe average range Lhan one would predlcL for hls age. Pe used hls
communlcaLlon mosL ofLen for Lhe purposes of 'commenLlng' (l.e., polnLlng ouL ob[ecLs or acLlons for Lhe
purpose of esLabllshlng [olnL aLLenLlon) and 'answerlng' (l.e., respondlng Lo a quesLlon asked). Cnly
occaslonally dld he communlcaLe Lo requesL lnformaLlon or acknowledge whaL hls conversaLlonal
parLner sald. 8ased on Lhese flndlngs, no furLher assessmenL ls needed.


Megan 8rey, CraduaLe Cllnlclan, 8.S. uecember 3, 2013
1rlcla loldy, CraduaLe Cllnlclan, 8.S. uecember 3, 2013
Clullana Mlolo, h.u., CCC-SL uecember 3, 2013