Tracking preschool children with developmental delay: Third grade outcomes

Abstract Educational outcomes were evaluated for 2,046 preschool children identified with developmental delay. Results indicated that at third grade, 26% were in regular education and the remaining 74% were receiving special education services. The most common disability classifications at outcome were specific learning disabilities and educable mentally handicaps. Regular education, but not special education, children had higher retention rates than did the general population. The presence of one or more secondary exceptionalities in preschool was more common for special education than regular education children. Regular education and special education children did not differ on other factors studied. This study highlights the importance of developmental delay as an exceptionality category and advances our understanding of the long-term implications of such delay

Identification of Early Risk Factors for Developmental Delay

Statewide birth certificate and preschool exceptionality records were integrated to identify risk factors for developmental delay (DD). Epidemiological methods were used to investigate both individual-level and population-level risk for DD associated with a number of child and maternal factors. Infants born with very low birth weight were at the greatest individual-level risk for DD, whereas prematurity (gestational age less than 37 weeks) and low maternal education posed the greatest population-level risk. For comparative purposes, individual-level risk for speech disability and other developmental disabilities was also determined. The individual-level risk associated with nearly all factors was significantly greater for DD than for speech disability or other developmental disabilities. The present study suggests that information available from birth certificate records can be used to target screening and early intervention services for children at high risk with the goal of reducing the incidence of DD and subsequent associated disabilities

Early Risk Factors for Speech and Language Impairments

Developmental epidemiological methods were used to identify risk factors for speech impairment (SI), specific language impairment (SLI), and combined speech and language impairment (CSLI) in a statewide sample of preschool-age children. Level of risk was determined by comparing the rate of occurrence of factors between 12,799 children with SI, SLI, or CSLI and a comparison group of 946,177 children. Multiple birth, presence of a newborn condition, presence of a congenital abnormality, maternal age greater than 35 years, and presence of a maternal medical history factor were associated with increased risk for SI, SLI, and CSLI. Prematurity and very low birthweight were significant risk factors for SLI and CSLI but not for SI. Prenatal exposure to alcohol was a significant risk factor for SI but not SLI and CSLI. Low maternal education and unwed marital status were associated with a decreased risk for speech and/or language impairments, indicating a potential identification bias. The study presented here demonstrates the potential for identifying children at birth who are at increased risk for speech and language impairments