Embedded Files
Morphemes - The smallest units of meaning in a language (e.g., pre-, re-, -ing, plural s, -able)
Syntax - The rules we use to arrange words to form sentences (ASHA, n.d.)
Poor morphosyntactic skills refer to difficulty with utilizing morphemes to structure words appropriately to construct grammatically correct sentences.
Poor morphosyntactic skills refer to difficulty with utilizing morphemes to structure words appropriately to construct grammatically correct sentences.
Assessment Options
Assessment Options
Test of Language Development Primary: Fifth Edition (told-p5)
Test of Language Development Primary: Fifth Edition (told-p5)
Strengths:
Subtests of Syntactic Understanding, Sentence Imitation, and Morphological Completion can identify areas of strength and weakness of morphological and syntactic skills, providing specific information to incorporate into the goal setting process
Weakness:
Cannot administer on children birth through four years, as the starting age is four
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Preschool (CELF Preschool-3)
Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Preschool (CELF Preschool-3)
Strengths:
Subtests of Sentence Comprehension, Word Structure, Expressive Vocabulary, Following Directions, Recalling Sentences also identify areas of strength and weakness as the TOLD-P5 does, but the different assessment areas will expand/provide different information gained from the TOLD-P5 for a more comprehensive view of morphosyntactic skills
Weakness:
Lengthy assessment completion time may yield invalid results if child is not performing to their full potential due to distraction or fatigue
Intervention Options
Intervention Options
Vertical Structuring
Vertical Structuring
How it works:
Child produces utterance → clinician responds to utterance with relevant question framed for desired response → child responds → clinician utilizes 2 responses from the child and forms a more complete and complex utterance
Strengths:
Targets form of language
Falls under a hybrid approach, meaning that the activity is both clinician-directed and child-lead
Allows the child to choose from variety of object/toys selected by the clinician AND for the clinician to have some control over the therapy targets
Weakness:
May be difficult to control activity (e.g., ask two related questions) if child loses attention quickly
(Eisenberg, S.L., 2013)
Focused Stimulation
Focused Stimulation
How it works:
Clinician structures the environmental to encourage/tempt the child to produce the correct obligatory target within the provided context
Strengths:
Highly functional due to being play-based (i.e., environment selected will be important/engaging for the child)
Emphasis on use of modeling, demonstrating that the intervention may be effective for both production and comprehension
Weakness:
May pose issues to generalization of words and phrases outside of the focused targets
(Cable & Domsch, 2011)
Additional Approaches
Additional Approaches
Alternative, access, and societally based approaches for poor morphosyntactic skills:
Alternative, access, and societally based approaches for poor morphosyntactic skills:
Accept ALL forms of communication to allow the child to share with others! (e.g., if a child sees 2 dogs and says “doggy” while holding up two fingers, positive reinforce this behavior through positive praise)
Communicate with the child in ways that help them feel competent (e.g., if the child has difficulty understanding the syntax of difficult word order, state directions in the order they should be completed in. For example, say “Line up after you push in your chair” say “Push in your chair then line up.”
Encourage an attitude within the child’s environments (e.g., home, school, etc.) that is accepting of the child’s skill set
References
References
American Speech-Language-Hearing Organization. (n.d.). Language in Brief. https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/clinical-topics/spoken-language-disorders/language-in-brief/
Cable, A.L. & Domsch, C. (2011). Systematic review of the literature on the treatment of children with late language emergence. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 46(2), 138–154. https://doi.org/10.3109/13682822.2010.487883
Eisenberg, S.L. (2013). Grammar intervention: Content and procedures for facilitating childrenʼs language development. Topics in language disorders, 33(2), 165–178. https://doi.org/10.1097/TLD.0b013e31828ef28e
Newcomer, P.L. & Donald, D.H. (2019). Test of Language Development Primary: Fifth Edition (TOLD-P5). Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Speech-%26-Language/Test-of-Language-Development%E2%80%93Primary%3A-Fifth-Edition/p/100002033.html
Wiig, E.H., Secord, W.A., Semel, E. (2020) Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals- Preschool (CELF-P): Technical Manual. Pearson. Retrieved from https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Developmental-Early-Childhood/Clinical-Evaluation-of-Language-Fundamentals-Preschool-3/p/100002031.html.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse