RESOURCE REVIEWS / HERE’S ONE

SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY IN PRACTICE WINTER 2011 23

practice, a spontaneous language sample is recommended to supplement standardised assessment.

I found the scoring fairly straightforward. The standard scores format has changed since the RDLS III, and are now Wechsler-style scores with a mean of 100, and a standard deviation of 15. This makes an easier comparison to other assessments, particularly in reports.

‘Sometime you naughty’I used the NRDLS with ‘Tom’, aged 4;9, who has a diagnosis of specific language impairment and some dysfluency. The purpose of the assessment (figure 1) was to evaluate progress following therapy, and plan the next steps. Tom’s comprehension scale score, although still within normal limits for his age, was lower than when previously assessed with the RDLS III (at C.A. 4;0, he obtained a percentile rank of 56, age equivalent 4;1-4;2), which I feel reflects the greater emphasis on morphology of the NRDLS; he found the verb morphology and pronoun sections difficult, mirroring the difficulties seen in his spontaneous language. His production scale score was as expected, and was specific in identifying Tom’s needs. We will now target his understanding and use of ‘-ed’ past tenses and pronouns in therapy. Tom appeared to enjoy the assessment, particularly telling the monkey what to do, even commenting ‘sometime you naughty’ when he saw a picture of the monkey kicking a box. He began to lose concentration towards the end. The authors note this can be a common experience with children with language impairments, and we should consider completing the test over two sessions as appropriate.

The Multilingual Toolkit is a useful addition, and the experience and knowledge of the authors shines through. They describe a range of research literature and use examples from different languages to illustrate how each section of the NRDLS could be adapted culturally and linguistically for children who speak languages other than English. Although they cannot provide an assessment for a different language, they present issues to consider whether you are contemplating adapting the assessment for a research project or for just one child.

Louise Tweedie is a specialist speech and language therapist (Early Years) with East Cheshire NHS Trust.

ReferencesEdwards, S., Fletcher, P., Garman, M., Hughes, A., Letts, C. & Sinka, I. (1997) Reynell Developmental Language Scales (3rd edn). Windsor: Nfer Nelson. Law, J. (1999) ‘It’s not just the pigs…a comment on the RDLS III’, International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders 34(2), pp.181-184.Rice, M. & Wexler, K. (1996) ‘Towards tense as a clinical marker of specific language impairment in English-speaking children’, Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research 39(6), pp.1239-1257.

“Here’s one I made earlier...”

End of course recap cards“These are good for reminders of course content, without being so formal as homework. They also add to parents’ information of what their child has been learning about.”

MATERIALS• A4 size blank card (coloured if you like)• A5 envelope• Pen and felt-tips

IN PRACTICE1. Fold the piece of card to make it A5 sized.2. For the front, choose a simple and appropriate outline that is relevant to the school

term or the client’s interest. Draw, for example, a Christmas tree, a sun with rays, an oval shape, a heraldic shield, or the outline of a Dalek.

3. Decorate the shape by writing inside and around it the topics covered during that phase of work. For example, you could write ‘Body language’ inside the Christmas tree, and add the words ‘eye contact’, ‘smiling’, ‘waving’, ‘high fives’ and ‘handshake’ as baubles on the branches.

4. Your client could add colours before they take it home.

Alison Roberts came up with ‘Here’s one I made earlier’ in 2003. She has generously inspired us with an incredible 70 low cost, flexible and fun therapy suggestions - and still the ideas keep flowing...

MATERIALS• Supreme energy• Lateral thinking• Determination• Encouragement • Good sense of humour• Magnificent networking skills• Wise editorship• Fantastic comment and editorial work• Gift of inspiring others• Knowledge of the profession and what

we like and need

PREPARATION• Set aside plenty of late nights• Find brilliant staff to help• Let writers know what sort of articles

are needed• Encourage contributors (this can

change a contributor’s life!)

• Judge which articles are most relevant to the readership

• Proofread and tweak with a light touch• Coax reviewers • Write fluently and informatively• Cope with financial matters• Find advertisers

IN PRACTICE• Keep it all purring along by setting the

print date and establishing deadlines• Lay out the magazine so the readers

are drawn in • Approve the final version, take a deep

breath, and send it off to the printer• Arrange distribution, and promotional

copies to expand the readership • Relax for a tiny moment, then go off

again, with the same steps. Then again. And again….. !

Here are many Avril made earlier“Over 14 years Speech & Language Therapy in Practice editor Avril Nicoll has created an absolutely brilliant magazine for us to read, study, and enjoy. How did she do it? This is a guess but, at the risk of embarrassing her, I think it goes something like this...”

And finallySo huge thanks Avril, you have informed and entertained me for years with the magazine, and on top of that you’ve set me off in a new direction. I’m now happily awaiting the arrival of the prints of my first book ‘Here’s one I made earlier’ (www.speechmark.net/heres-one-i-made-earlier-15016), a compilation of the articles I’ve written for Speech & Language Therapy in Practice.