THE CAMBRIDGE LANGUAGE AND SPEECH PROJECT (CLASP) .1. DETECTION OF LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES AT 36 TO 39 MONTHS

A community-based investigation of the nature, characteristics and evo lution of speech and language delay in a sample of 3-year-olds is bein g carried out in Cambridgeshire. 1936 parents completed a preschool la nguage checklist (PLC) to identify children at risk of language diffic ulties. Two hundred and seventy-seven children at risk together with 1 48 controls completed a series of preliminary face-to-face standard la nguage tests to determine expressive. receptive and phonological skill s. Concordance between the Cambridge Language and Speech Project (CLAS P) identification and speech therapy involvement suggests that the ove rall (CLASP) screening procedure identified a number of children that current surveillance had missed and support the conclusion that the PL C may be a useful adjunct for child health cafe services as an aid in prioritising children for referral to speech therapy services. Childre n with scores of 1 to 3 at 36 months should be reviewed at 39 months. and those with 3 or more should be a high priority fur referral. Preli minary examination of the impairment profile suggests that children wi th language impairments rather than pure speech impairments at 36 and 39 months are mure likely to have a broader range of overall language- related deficit.