International Meeting for Autism Research: Consistency Among Language Assessment Scores in School-Aged High-Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Consistency Among Language Assessment Scores in School-Aged High-Functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Thursday, May 20, 2010
Franklin Hall B Level 4 (Philadelphia Marriott Downtown)
10:00 AM
J. Lomibao , Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
N. Coggins , Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
M. Galdston , Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
R. Travolta , Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
M. Szkolka , Center For Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
R. Luyster , Division of Developmental Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
A. Duda , Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
S. L. Santangelo , Center for Human Genetic Research, Psychiatric & Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Background: Prior reports have documented considerable variability in language abilities among verbal children with ASD (Kjelgaard and Tager-Flusberg, 2001).  A variety of measures are used to assess language abilities in school-age children including direct face-to-face assessments with the child, and questionnaires that are completed by the child’s primary caregiver. At least one previous study found consistent agreement among different measures of early language in toddlers (Luyster et. al., 2008).  However, consistency among various measures of language abilities in school-age children has not previously been studied.

Objectives: This study investigated the relationships among scores on standardized language assessments obtained from school-aged children with ASD by both direct observation and parent reports.  These assessments were obtained from children with fluent speech who were able to complete the direct-observation measures.

Methods: Twenty-nine participants (age range 5 – 12 years; IQ M=102.31; SD=21.71) were given a battery of language assessments.  Direct observation measures included the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-IV), which measures different aspects of language development, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-IV), which tests receptive vocabulary.  Parent-report questionnaires included the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS-II), which assesses an individual’s adaptive skills, and the Children’s Communication Checklist (CCC-2), which measures children’s communication skills in the areas of pragmatics, syntax, morphology, semantics and speech.

Results: Analysis of the CELF-IV core language scores revealed no significant difference between expressive (EL) and receptive (RL) language standard scores.  Significant correlations emerged between core standard scores on the CELF-IV and standard scores on the PPVT-IV (r=0.888**).  CELF-IV and PPVT-IV standard scores were also significantly correlated with the VABS-II Language Composite Score (CELF & VABS r=0.682**; PPVT & VABS r=0.616**).  However, the CCC-2 General Communication Composite score was found to correlate with only the VABS Language Composite Score (r=0.506**).  [**p<0.01]

Conclusions: This is the first report of consistency among language measures in school-age children with ASD, including measures of receptive and expressive language derived from both direct assessment and parent-report measures.  Results suggest that the parent-report and direct observation assessments used in this study are consistent and reliable measures of language in school-age children with ASD.

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