(Hart & Risley, 1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children | LEADERSproject

(Hart & Risley, 1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children | LEADERSproject: Importance:�This study was one of the first to explicitly link vocabulary size to socioeconomic status rather than to the presence of a language disorder and demonstrated the importance of prior knowledge during assessment and intervention. This study also demonstrated the necessity of comparing a child to his speech community, as typical linguistic development and exposure varies depending on socioeconomic status as well as cultural perceptions and ideas about typical communication and language development in young children. Clinicians should be aware that static vocabulary tests and test items are most likely to identify the child’s SES background rather than the presence of a language disorder and therefore should not be used for diagnosis. When children come from at-risk backgrounds (e.g., low SES status) but do not appear to have a language impairment compared to peers, the clinician should consider alternatives in order to avoid inappropriately identifying language impairment. This could mean training parents, providing education about language stimulation, showing how to create a language rich environment, or adding language supports in the classroom through collaboration with classroom teachers.