Language-impaired 4-year-olds: distinguishing transient from persistent impairment

In a prospective, longitudinal study, 87 language-impaired children were assessed at the ages of 4, 4 1/2, and 5 1/2 years on a battery of language measures. In 37% of children, who were termed the "good outcome group," the language disorder had resolved by the age of 5 1/2 years so that children were indistinguishable from a control group. If one restricted consideration only to those 68 children whose nonverbal ability was within normal limits, the figure rose to 44%. Outcome for individual children (good or poor) could be predicted with 90% accuracy on the basis of test measures obtained at 4 years. The best predictor was ability to tell back a simple story to pictures. The one language measure that did not relate to outcome was phonological competence.