1999 Volume 40 Issue 4 Pages 320-328
Language retardation in infants has been considered from two aspects: neurologically and developmentally.
Language development is assumed to be composed of four modalities : hearing, speaking, seeing and writing. Planning of speech therapy tasks requires developmental scales of these four language modalities.
The author prepared developmental charts of the four language modalities. However, visual developmental scales for one-and-a-half to four-year-old children are not found so often as auditory developmental scales. In this report, the author attempted to devise several visual scales for this period. Thirty-two normal children were examined, and six scales were found in their abilities.
Ordinary articles and toys were used in the examinations: for example, shoes, a pencil, a toothbrush and a puzzle toy. The scales were as follows.
(1) 2 years old : a. Matching of at least six of seven items or figures to their corresponding drawings. b. Matching of at least six of ten pictures to their corresponding drawings.
(2) 2 years and 4 months: a. Matching of at least nine of ten pictures to their corresponding drawings. b. Ability to insert at least six of ten cubical figures into the puzzle box when one side is presented.
(3) 2 years and 7 months: Matching of at least seven of 14 kana letters figures to their corresponding drawings.
(4) 3 years and 1 month: Matching of all 14 kana letters to their corresponding drawings.
(5) 3 years and 7 months: Reading of at least one of 14 kana letters.
(6) 3 years and 9 months : Ability to insert at least nine of ten cubical figures into the puzzle box.
