Infant Screening of Early Communication Risk: The CISS, Phase II

DESCRIPTIONprovided by applicantEffective early intervention depends on reliable screening of risk for communication impairments as soon as possibleEstablished infant communication risk factors include poor attentiongesturessocial connectednessexploratory playand speechAlthough these risk factors can be detected bymosand reliably predict later language and social disordersattempts to detect similar risk factors in infantsmoshave been unsuccessful because of limitations in available screeners that include onlyitems for preintentional communicationi ereactive or active infant communication behaviors not directed toward listenersThere are no available screeners that provide normed and sensitive data on preintentional communication and reflect evidence based predictors that discriminate infants at risk for communication impairments beforemosWhen practitioners cannot detect infant behaviors known to be associated with communication riskthey cannot target early intervention to children with the greatest needs and potential for improvementIf we can identify communication risk early enoughwe can intervene in skills that predict communication impairmentsmitigate effects of primary impairments in childrenand reduce potential for secondary impairments that affect communication and other life skillsThe plan for this project is to refine and norm a predictivesensitivemodality independent screener to detect communication risk in preintentional infantsmosCommunication in Infants and Social Screeneror CISSPhase I research by the Principal Investigator showed that the CISS is an internally consistent measure to reliably identify preintentional risk factors in infantsmonths who later show communication impairmentsThe easy qualitative judgments on the CISS have been derived from the PIandapos s comprehensive assessment of preintentional infant communicationthe Infant Social and Communication Behavior ScalesISCBSand correspond to behavior clusters for the leading toddler communication assessmentthe Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Development Profile Infant Toddler ChecklistCSBS DP ITCWetherby andampPrizantA sensitive and specific screener for communication risk could justify the early involvement of speech language pathologists for infants as well as for older children with complex communication needsWe will revise and norm the Phase I CISS to detect communication risk factors in infantsmoswith and without known disabilitiestest new samples of overTD and overat risk preintentional infants atmosand administer the CISS through pediatrician well baby visits to achieve these specific aimsEstablish the reliabilityvalidityand age based norms of the scalesdomainsand composite scores for the CISS in nationally representative samples of typically developing infants using correlational analysesincluding confirmatory factor analysisdemonstrate the efficacy of the CISS at discriminating communication risk factors associated with disability in high risk infants as well as infants without known riskand establish the feasibility and efficacy of CISS administration through pediatrician well baby visits PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCEIf children at risk for communication disabilities can be detected in the first year of lifethen we can begin early communication intervention during developmental periods in which research has demonstrated the childandapos s neurological system is most flexible to adapt to and overcome skill limitations that contribute to later communication diagnosesThere is currently no screening tool focused on identifying risk at the preintentional stage as early asmonthsand the development of such a measure would meet a critical health need for childrenfamiliesand the doctorscliniciansand service providers who seek this predictive informationIf we can intervene early enough in the skills that predict later communication impairmentswe can mitigate effects of primary impairments and reduce the likelihood of secondary impairments that affect communication and other life skills