Fluidity of language profiles in a follow-up study :is early gesture predictive of later language profile?

Many studies have investigated whether non-verbal skills such as gesture are reliable early markers of later language delay, for example, Rowe and Goldin-Meadow (2009); Chiat and Roy (2008). Researchers such as Reilly et al (2009) have looked at the value of following children longitudinally to see how communicative and expressive language profiles develop and change over time and to investigate which clinical markers appear to predict language profiles at a later stage. However a lack of longitudinal research specifically related to early gesture as a clinical marker of later language profile exists in the literature. This Time 2 (T2) study evaluates the relationship between early gesture at Time 1 (T1) and language profiles two years further along the language development trajectory. Early non-verbal skills including gesture use and the ability to process meaning from symbolic representation were assessed in a cohort of 22 children aged 2-3 years at T1. At T2 follow-up, receptive and expressive language skills, phonological skills, non-verbal cognitive skills and non-word and sentence repetition were assessed in a group of 15 children aged 48-70 months with a previously identified receptive and/or expressive language delay from the same original T1 cohort of 22 children. Results showed that language development appears to be fluid. Language profile at T2 changed for 86.6% of the T1 sample. Children with mixed receptive and expressive language difficulties at age 2-3 were more likely to have persisting language problems at age 4-5. Gesture did not appear to predict language profile or persistence of language impairment at age 4-5. Symbolic comprehension and morphosyntactic elements of language showed moderate correlations with expressive language. This small sample is very limited in terms of clinical significance and further research with a larger sample is necessary.