Cues for screening language disorders in preschool children.

This article has described procedures and criteria a pediatrician may employ during office evaluation to identify children suspected of having a developmental language disability. Disruptions in vocabulary comprehension, vocabulary production, sentence organization, use of word forms, and articulation patterns are important cues signaling the need for referral for a speech and language evaluation. The 1970 NINDS estimate that no less than one out of every 170 children has a developmental disability affecting the development of language suggests that one or more such children with such a disability enter the pediatrician's office each week. Many of the negative consequences of this problem may be prevented or greatly reduced by early detection and appropriate referral based upon the informaion described in this article.