Early Communication Indicator: An analysis with three Portuguese toddlers

  • Sandra Ferreira University of Minho Portugal
  • Anabela Cruz-Santos University of Minho Portugal
  • Leandro S. Almeida University of Minho Portugal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/rlog.81142
Keywords: Assessment, Early Communication, communication disorders
Agencies: This work was supported by the Portuguese Funding Agency for Science and Technology (FCT) under the reference SFRH/BD/138965/2018, within the framework of CIEC (Research Centre on Child Studies, Institute of Education, University of Minho), projects under the references UIDB/00317/2020 and UIDP/00317/2020, and CIEd (Research Centre on Education, Institute of Education, University of Minho), projects under the references UIDB/01661/2020 and UIDP/01661/2020, through national funds of FCT/MCTES-PT.

Abstract

Professionals need efficient tools in early childhood communication development to identify infants and toddlers who are at risk of communication disorders or language delays. In Portugal, this project was carried out to respond to these needs due to a lack of these resources and a high prevalence of children at risk for communication problems at early ages. This paper describes the first steps to adapt the Early Communication Indicator (ECI) for the Portuguese population. The ECI is a play-based expressive communication measure for infants and toddlers aged 6 to 42 months. The ECI was originally developed in the U.S. and was designed for use by service providers to provide information about growth in communication, to help in intervention decision making, and to be administered in any language. This paper analyzes the ECI results of three Portuguese children in relation to their communication progression, based on a one-year longitudinal study. The ECI was administered when children were 17, 24, and 30 months of age. The ECI results showed that two of the children follow the typical progression of communication acquisition, with acquisition of earlier prelinguistic skills preceding growth in spoken language. The ECI results for the other child showed a very different and slower progression in the communication skills. The data obtained provided just an initial demonstration of the use of the ECI with Portuguese children. More research is needed into the development of the ECI in the Portuguese context, such as the development of a nationally representative, normative sample. Therefore, a discussion of what is needed in research and practice to advance this project is provided.

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Published
2023-07-03
How to Cite
Ferreira S., Cruz-Santos A. . y S. Almeida L. . (2023). Early Communication Indicator: An analysis with three Portuguese toddlers. Revista de Investigación en Logopedia, 13(2), e81142. https://doi.org/10.5209/rlog.81142
Issue
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2023)
Section
Artículos

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