Date of Graduation

Spring 2009

Degree

Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Committee Chair

Lisa Wood

Abstract

This study sought to determine agreement between child care providers and parents when reporting on the communication skills of infants and toddlers. This was conducted by comparing the scores received on a communication checklist completed by child care providers with the scores received when completed by parents, who have been demonstrated to be reliable at completing parent report measures. The Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales-Developmental Profile (CSBS-DP) Infant-Toddler Checklist served as the parent report measure. Parents of infants and toddlers and their child care providers completed the checklist about the communication skills of the child. This study was a quasi-experimental (correlational) design. The independent variable was the raters (parents and child care providers) and the dependent variable was the ratings received. Analysis of the data indicated that child care providers rated children much lower than parents rated them. Parents and child care providers did, however, demonstrate significant correlations in the direction in which they rated the children. Use of child care providers as reporters on the communication skills of infants and toddlers resulted in a disproportionate number of children failing the screening compared to parent reports. Until further research has been completed, it is the suggestion of the author that speech-language pathologists acknowledge possible differences between child care provider and parent report.

Keywords

speech-language delay, early intervention, speech-language screening, infants and toddlers, CSBS-DP

Subject Categories

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Copyright

© Kaitlin Nicole Alfermann

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