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Abstract:
Abstract: Relatively little is known about very early
language development in children who have sustained pre- or
peri-natal stroke. This study examined language skills in infants
and young children using the Preschool Language Scale-3 (PLS-3), a
standardized test that assesses precursors to, and competency in,
receptive and expressive language. The test yields standard scores
for Auditory Comprehension, Expressive Communication, and Total
Language scales. Subjects were 10 children with early-onset focal
brain lesions (mean age = 17 months; age range 5 to 47 months) and
76 controls (mean age = 17 months; age range = 5 to 58 months). The
lesion subjects scored significantly more poorly than did the
controls on all of the scales, though the scores for both groups
were within normal limits. Within the focal lesion group, there
were no differences between the left and right hemisphere lesion
subjects, and scores did not change with age. Within the lesion
group males tended to perform more poorly than females, whereas no
sex differences were seen in controls. These findings indicate that
the effect of pre- or peri-natal stroke on language in infancy and
young childhood may be relatively mild, and does not correlate with
the side of the lesion.
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