Identifying and supporting children's early language needs
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Development, pilot and evaluation of an early language assessment tool and resources to support action by Health Visitors and early years practitioners to identify and support children with early speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).
IRAS ID
261205
Contact name
James Law
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
The project aims to develop and evaluate an Early Language Identification Measure-Extended (ELIM-E) to support action by Health Visitors to identify and support children with early speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). The use of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire is now standard practice in much of the UK however its reliability and validity have been questioned; there is a need to explore a two-stage procedure, where one generic assessment is followed by a more specific early identification measure to identify SLCN.
The project will operate across 5 sites in England and will include 6 phases: development of the ELIM-E, testing of the ELIM-E against an existing commonly used language test, refinement of the ELIM-E, practitioner and parent feedback, resource development, and dissemination. Alongside these phases will run Parent-Practitioner Involvement (PPI) groups who will act as contact groups throughout the project. We will be collecting data on 160 children across the 5 sites per month, over 9 months, providing data on 1280 children in total.
The research team will develop the ELIM-E using existing literature and evidence. The ELIM-E will include 5 scales: Parental Concern, Communication Milestones, Communication Behaviour, Risk Factors, Practitioner Observation.
Health Visitors will be trained to use the ELIM-E and will test it with parents who are presenting for their healthy child check-up, alongside the standard ASQ assessment. A Speech Language Therapist (SLT) will then carry out a commonly used language assessment (blind to the results of the ELIM-E and ASQ). These data will be used to refine the ELIM-E by the research team. The SLT will also complete a feedback survey with the parent and a questionnaire about behaviour. Alongside the project will run Co-design groups and Focus groups. One of the key outputs will be the intervention resources designed by the research team and these groups.REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/WM/0114
Date of REC Opinion
7 May 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion