Are speech and language in the early school years as important as we think?
Speech and language skills can be an indication of school readiness - impacting literacy, maths ability, and overall educational success and has implications well into adulthood. Edith Cowan University (ECU) and ORIGINS are working together to determine the ‘school readiness’ of ORIGINS kids at the five-year timepoint and will assess their speech and language skills.
This data will then be compared to family, medical and developmental information, collected through the project since birth, to identify which factors influence speech and language development, and the extent to which such factors can change over time.
Ultimately, this knowledge will guide future efforts to deliver early interventions to improve the school readiness of children in Western Australia.
Who can take part?
The assessment will take place at the Five-Year Kids Check and all active ORIGINS participants are invited to take part at this time point.
What does participation involve?
The assessment will take around 45 minutes. The following activities and assessments will be administered by a trained ECU professional with your child and are presented as fun kids activities;
- The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Screening Test - screen for children who may be at risk for language disorders.
- Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing 2nd Edition - measures of pre-literacy skills that are powerful predictors of early reading development.
- Polysyllable Preschool Test - single-word picture naming task assessing speech sound production and risk for phonological disorder.
- Westerveld and Gillon Narrative Retell and Comprehension Test - assessing storytelling (narrative) skills and comprehension.
- Finger tapping assessment to measure brain lateralisation (which brain hemisphere is working harder during specific tasks).
Parents will also be asked a few questions about their child:
- Caregiver Case History - a custom questionnaire of family history of speech and language disorders, diagnoses of other neurodevelopmental conditions, educational history, and parent literacy practices.
- The Children’s Communication Checklist 2nd Edition - a published parent checklist designed to screen children for communication impairments.
- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire - a widely used tool for screening for behavioural, emotional and social development in children.
- Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire - a brief parent questionnaire designed to screen for coordination disorders in children.
Benefits to families 
Shortly after the completion of the appointment, you will receive a report of your child's assessments.
By participating in this research you are also helping to identify what contributes to speech and language difficulties in childhood.
Further Information
Contact the ORIGINS team to find out more or to arrange your five-year-olds assessment:
email: ORIGINSproject@telethonkids.org.au
Ph: 6375 6300