Use of radiotelemetry to obtain expressive language samples

Expressive language samples were obtained from normal and language-disordered children through standard interview procedures and through wireless radiotelemetry. Comparisons of these samples using Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS), mean length of utterance (MLU), and inflectional scoring indicated significant differences between the groups of children, and among the interview-telemetry samples. Telemetry samples yielded different overall scores from those obtained with the interview samples, and there were significant differences in the types of language performance within the samples. Reliable telemetry scores across days were obtained. Difficulties in using the equipment are described and the procedures are compared.