Agreement of Language Intervention Triage Profiles

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Abstract
Eligibility for specific language intervention services is often based on the relation between a child's cognitive assessment and language assessment. The cognitive referencing model, applied in most states, requires that a child's cognitive performance be developed above language ability for the child to receive services by a speech-language pathologist. If cognition and language are equally delayed, the child is predicted to be a poor candidate for language intervention based on the theory that cognitive skills set the upper limit for language development. This study examined agreement of cognitive/language profiles from a variety of measures. We administered a battery of cognitive and language measures to 37 preschoolers with language delay and examined the agreement of the profiles in determining eligibility for language intervention services. Eligibility ranged from 0% to 40% depending on the test profiles used.