Professionals
MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory
NBHSW keeps information on children identified with a hearing loss, recording details such as age at identification, age at hearing-aid fitting, level and type of loss.
To measure the impact of early identification on language development, NBHSW will be collecting information on the words used by these children, using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory.
The MacArthur was chosen after consideration of a wide range of tools as meeting the following criteria:
- Easy to use.
- Allows comparison with hearing children.
- Suitable for use with children under 3 years of age.
The MacArthur is an internationally recognised measure which is being used to evaluate service effectiveness by a number of hearing screening programmes and as a research tool.
The version we will be using is the British English Adaptation of the original American English Macarthur*. Using this version allows us to compare our data with the norms developed by the originators of the Checklist and with those being established in other countries.
We will not be using the MacArthur with children with multiple and complex needs, for whom it is not an appropriate tool.
We will be using our database of children with a hearing loss to identify toddlers in the month before they are 2 years old and making initial contact with the local Sensory Support Services, Teachers of the Deaf and Specialist Speech and Language Therapists involved with the child and family. Where services are already using the MacArthur, we will be requesting that information from it be shared with NBHSW, with the parents’ permission. Where the service does not use the MacArthur, NBHSW will send a copy directly to the parents.
If English is not the home language, NBHSW would still like parents to complete the checklist. We will be asking parents, for whom English is not their first language, to indicate on the front of the checklist what language they use at home. This includes families for whom Sign Language is their main language. As yet, there is no standardised Welsh version of the MacArthur. Again, NBHSW would be grateful if Welsh speakers could complete the English version and let us know that Welsh is the first language at home. Until a standardised version is available in Welsh, this will provide us with valuable information.
Gathering information on vocabulary production longitudinally will allow NBHSW to build a bank of national data. Such a database will allow us to measure the performance of successive cohorts of children, evaluating the impact of changes to audiological assessment and management on this early marker of language progress.
NBHSW will be sending out a Consent Form, to be used with the MacArthur, asking parents for permission for information from the MacArthur to be shared by Education and Health colleagues.
NBHSW would value the support of parents and colleagues in Education and Health in collecting this important information and sharing it with us. We look forward to working with you.
*Klee, T and Harrison, C (2001). CDI Words and Sentences: validity and preliminary norms for British English. Paper presented at the Child Language Seminar, University of Hertfordshire.