Profiles of children with severe oral language disorders

The major purpose of this study is to determine whether children assigned to classes for severe oral language handicaps in California by a multidisciplinary diagnostic team exhibit a characteristic ITPA performance profile or a number of distinct profiles. A factor analysis and a cluster analysis was made on the scores of 237 children. It was found that on the factor analysis the results showed a clear auditory-vocal factor and a visual-motor factor. All five tests in the visual-motor channel were superior to the five tests in the auditory-vocal channel. Within the auditory-vocal channel the lowest scores were in auditory association and grammatic closure. Ninety-seven percent of the oral language handicapped children had the lowest scores on these two subtests. It appears from these results that the major deficit of children assigned to severe oral language classes is a deficit in the central organization process, formerly referred to as "central aphasia, or inner language".