Student Presentations- Language Development- Meagan Alleman, 13-14 EC-SEBRIS Student

From Meagan:

Being given the opportunity to do research on topics that correlate directly with developmental assessment, I chose to delve deeper into the development of typical language in single language learners. I have learned that language is a majority of body language and understanding, as well as the verbal aspect. The milestones that we are expecting children to meet are becoming a cause for concern, because parents believe that if their child doesn't have exactly the right amount of words that is expected, they immediately must have a delay. The most interesting fact was that children develop in the same pattern, rather than at the same rate. This knowledge can give parents a general idea of where their child should be, rather than a concrete "your child must be at this level." There isn't enough research done at the childhood level, it's approximately 30 years behind- but the fact that we can now understand that there are patterns in development, it's vital towards the research and use of assessment. Clinical workers are able to utilize assessments to determine what is typical, versus what is atypical. They are slowly realizing the need for early intervention at the 0-5 age, but we still have a long way to go before it reaches the amount of intervention that is available to the adult population.

Thanks, Meagan!