Variation in Language Impairment
by Although heterogeneity is often asserted in literature on language impairments, there are fewer discussions about how assessment can be structured to reveal individual differences.
A careful assessment that captures this variation would seem to be a first step in bridging the gap (or chasm) that often exists between (a) the actual language knowledge and skills required to function in a classroom and (b) common language assessment and intervention practices (as described recently by Wallach, 2010). The process of uncovering a unique language profile is one of starting with one or more hypotheses about the nature of oral and/or written language impairments and their variations and planning an assessment protocol that allows for confirmation. An internal conversation about how a child’s oral and written language problems interact might go something like the following:
Everything I know about this child points to a specific comprehension deficit that impacts both listening and reading. I don’t think the classic dyslexic profile of word reading inaccuracy explains her problems. One way I can test this is to present comparable listening and reading comprehension tasks. I wouldn’t expect listening performance to be better than reading. However, I anticipate that word reading accuracy will be within normal limits.
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