Dutch Position Statement Kinderen met Luisterproblemen: luisterproblemen bij kinderen zijn in het werkveld en de literatuur ook wel bekend als: auditieve verwerkingsproblemen (AVP) of (central) auditory processing disorders (C)APD

Internationaal is er discussie over de vraag of auditieve verwerkingsproblemen (AVP) gezien moeten worden als een unieke klinische diagnose en over de meest geschikte diagnostisering en verwijzing van kinderen in deze doelgroep. Binnen de Nederlandse Audiologische Centra (AC) wordt mede hierdoor verschillend omgegaan met kinderen met zogenaamde onverklaarde luisterproblemen

Dutch Position Statement Children with Listening Difficulties

(Inter)nationally there is discussion about whether auditory processing disorders (APD) should be seen as a unique clinical diagnosis and what is the most appropriate diagnosis and referral of children in this target group. In this context, the Dutch Audiological Centres (AC) have different care pathways for children with so-called unexplained listening difficulties. The purpose of the current document is to provide professionals with tools to identify, diagnose and treat children with listening difficulties. The Dutch Position Statement Children with Listening Difficulties has been developed based on current scientific evidence of listening difficulties, and based on meetings held with professionals. Professionals in the Dutch Audiological Centres have reached a consensus with the following 9 statements: Definition: (1) The target group 'Children with listening difficulties' is not a unique and demonstrable clinical entity. (2) The problems of children with listening difficulties are multimodal. (3) The symptoms of children with listening difficulties may also occur in children with other developmental disorders such as AD(H)D, DLD, dyslexia and learning disorders. Detection and referral: (4) After detection of listening difficulties, children can be referred to a multidisciplinary centre. Diagnostics: (5) When diagnosing a child with listening difficulties, an audiologist, a speech language therapist and a behavioral scientist must be involved. (6) Listening difficulties are initially mapped using patient history (with client-centred focus) and, if available, a validated questionnaire. (7) In the case of children with listening difficulties, a speech-in-noise test is always carried out in addition to the pure tone and speech audiometry (8) The diagnostic procedure for listening difficulties starts from a broad perspective on development. Therapy: (9) For children with listening difficulties, intervention is focused on the client’s needs and focuses on action-oriented practice. This document informs professionals in the Netherlands, who are working with children who are referred because of listening difficulties in the absence of hearing loss, about the current evidence available and about the consensus in the Netherlands

Perspectives of Dutch health professionals regarding auditory processing disorders; a focus group study

This study investigated the perspectives of professionals from the Dutch audiological centres on the definition and care pathways of children with suspected auditory processing disorders (susAPD)

Dutch Position Statement Children with Listening Difficulties Content - presentation

Dutch Position Statement Children with Listening Difficulties: Content - presentation at 10th European Congress of Speech and Language Therapy, Cascais Portugal, 10 - 12 May, 201

Dutch position statement Kinderen met luisterproblemen: luisterproblemen bij kinderen zijn in het werkveld en de literatuur ook wel bekend als: auditieve verwerkingsproblemen (AVP) of (central) auditory processing disorders (C)APD

(Inter)nationaal is er discussie over de vraag of auditieve verwerkingsproblemen (AVP) gezien moeten worden als een unieke klinische diagnose en over de meest geschikte diagnostisering en verwijzing van kinderen in deze doelgroep. Binnen de Nederlandse Audiologische Centra (AC) wordt mede hierdoor verschillend omgegaan met kinderen met zogenaamde onverklaarde luisterproblemen. Het doel van het huidige document is om professionals handvatten te bieden bij het identificeren, diagnosticeren en behandelen van kinderen met luisterproblemen. Het ‘Dutch Position Statement Kinderen met Luisterproblemen’ is ontwikkeld op basis van het huidige wetenschappelijke bewijs omtrent luisterproblemen en op basis van bijeenkomsten gehouden met professionals

Dutch Position Statement Children with Listening Difficulties: development - presentation

Dutch Position Statement Children with Listening Difficulties: development - presentation at at 10th European Congress of Speech and Language Therapy, Cascais Portugal, 10 - 12 May, 201

Listening difficulties: Development and implementation of an evidence-based position statement - presentation

Listening difficulties: Development and implementation of an evidence-based position statement - presentation at 34th World Congress of Audiology, Capetown, South Africa, 28-31 October 201

The ordering of milestones in language development for children from 1 to 6 years of age

Purpose: To scale language milestones in a group of 527 children to provide an instrument for screening language development. Procedure: The questionnaire regarding these milestones was completed by parental report. It was evaluated whether the scaled milestones satisfied the assumptions of the Mokken item response model. Results: The scalability of the final scale of 14 milestones was strong (H = .95), its reliability was high (p = .96), and it satisfied the assumptions of the Mokken model. Conclusions: A single, unidimensional scale of diverse milestones was developed. It tops lexical, syntactic, and phonological skills, as well as both receptive and expressive language skills, and is well suited for mapping progress in language ability

Validation of the Early Language Scale

The aim of this study was to assess the criterion validity of a new screening instrument, the Early Language Scale (ELS), for the identification of young children at risk for developmental language disorder (DLD), and to determine optimal age-adjusted cut-off scores. We recruited a community-based sample of 265 children aged 1 to 6 years of age. Parents of these children responded on the ELS, a 26-item "yes-no" questionnaire. The children were assessed with extended language tests (language comprehension, word production, sentence production, communication). A composite score out of these tests (two tests below - 1 SD or one below - 1.5 SD) was used as reference standard. We assessed the validity of the ELS, measured by sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and AUC. The optimal sensitivity/specificity age-dependent cut-off ELS score was at 15th percentile. Sensitivity and specificity were 0.62 and 0.93, respectively. Positive predictive value was moderate (0.53), negative predictive value was high (0.95), the positive likelihood ratio was 9.16, and negative likelihood ratio was 0.41. The area under the ROC curve was 0.88. The items covered the increasing language development for the ages from 1 to 6.Conclusion: The ELS is a valid instrument to identify children with DLD covering an age range of 1 to 6 years in community-based settings.What is Known:• Early identification and treatment of developmental language disorders can reduce negative effects on children's emotional functioning, academic success, and social relationships.• Short, validated language screening instruments that cover the full age range of early childhood language development lack.What is New:• The 26-item Early Language Scale (ELS) is a valid instrument to identify children at risk for developmental language disorder in well-child care and early educational settings among Dutch children aged 1-6 years