The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale

Overview of how the assessment is conducted: 

There is a basal and a ceiling for certain communicative behaviors that are either observed or elicited within the session in the following ways:

• Parent Questionnaire

  • Sent to parents before assessment or administered on the testing day  

  • Caregivers are encouraged to comment on the frequency of the behaviors as well

• Observation

  • The clinician looks for certain behaviors throughout the session and checks them off if observed

• Elicitation

  • Desired behavior can be elicited by the examiner or caregiver and counted as present in the child's communicative skills

• Report

  • The examiner asks the caregiver the frequency of a certain behavior; suggested questions for each are given in the manual

Strengths of the assessment:

• Assesses both verbal and preverbal communication modalities (sign language, gestures)

• Considers parent's and teachers' own reports of their child's communication

• Caregiver/parent questionnaire available written and on CD in both English and Spanish

• A valuable tool to help clinicians develop therapy goals based on developmental milestones

Weaknesses of the assessment: 

• Clinicians report they have to rely heavily on parent/caregiver reports, as most behaviors are difficult to elicit

• Relies on the clinician's ability to elicit behaviors and provide stimuli

• No clear age-equivalents, standard scores, or percentile ranks