Development of a Checklist for the Assessment of Pragmatic Language Impairment

Abstract

Introduction: Pragmatic Language Impairment is a language disorder characterized by unimpaired structural aspects but marked deficits in the use of language. Objective: The objective of the study was to develop a checklist for the assessment of Pragmatic Language Impairment (PLI). Material and Methods: This study was carried on, in a time period of 3 months. A sample of 27 patients was studied with an age range of 5–16 years. Data was collected from the outpatient department of The Children’s Hospital, Mayo Hospital and Sheikh Zaid Hospital Lahore. The frequency of non-verbal, verbal and social communication behavior was calculated by using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Results: The Checklist was applied on 27 individuals. Results found that children with PLI show deficit in all three categories, with marked deficit shown by 15 children (58%) in understanding conversational cues and 10 children (37 %) in understanding change in tone of voice. In the category of verbal communication 18 (66%) children used inappropriate initiation, lack of coherence 19 (67%), insufficient information 16 (59%), lack of context based conversation 22 (81%), problem in understanding figurative language 26 (96%) and absence of presupposition was in 24 (88%) of these children. In social communication section of the checklist 23 out of 27 (85%) exhibited deficit in expressing feelings and 24 (88%) children never used or understood humor. Conclusion: The checklist identified symptoms of pragmatic language impairment and can be used to screen children with PLI. Keywords: Speech therapy, Assessment, Pragmatic Language Impairment, Autism