CAT CLAMS - A TOOL FOR THE PEDIATRIC EVALUATION OF INFANTS AND YOUNG-CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY/

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends regular developmental sc reening as a part of routine child health supervision. However, the pe diatrician has a limited number of tools available to further evaluate a child who is found to be suspect or abnormal on a developmental scr eening test. The Clinical Adaptive Test/Clinical Linguistic and Audito ry Milestone Scale (CAT/CLAMS) was therefore developed to provide pedi atricians with a technique to assess infants and toddlers with suspect ed developmental delay. The CAT/CLAMS demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Concurrent validity with the Bayley Scales of Infant Deve lopment (BSID) was demonstrated in 43 children ages 12 to 19 months wh o were tested on three occasions with both instruments (correlation co efficient ranging between 0.63 and 0.87; P <.001). Predictive validity 6 and 12 months later was also demonstrated in this population with c orrelation coefficients ranging between 0.73 and .077, significant at the P = .001 level. Utilizing the CAT/CLAMS as part of the pediatricia n's evaluation of children with developmental concerns would allow the pediatrician to compare language and nonlanguage problem-solving abil ities and, therefore, aid in diagnosis and appropriate referral.