Answer to the letter concerning our published paper about identifying language disorder in bilingual children

• Published in: Acta Paediatrica 2021-01, Vol.110 (1), p.362-363
• Main Authors: Nayeb, Laleh, Lagerberg, Dagmar, Sarkadi, Anna, Salameh, Eva‐Kristina, Eriksson, Mårten
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: bilingual children; Bilingualism; Child; Child, Preschool; Humans; Language; language disorder; Language Disorders; Multilingualism; screening
• ISSN: 0803-5253; 1651-2227; 1651-2227
• DOI: 10.1111/apa.15613

Reply by the current authors to the comments made by Daisy I. Perry & Gurdas V. Singh (see record 2020-99156-061) on the original article (see record 2020-99156-046). We read the commentary by Perry and Singhs with great interest and would like to take the opportunity to respond to their concerns, namely exclusion criteria; quality of parental information; control for SES; limited languages; varying expertise of professionals; and low sample size. The purpose of the screening was to identify new cases. Premature (<37 weeks) children and those with known disabilities were excluded as they are already in receipt of CHC services. Although we agree with Perry and Singhs that SES is associated with the prevalence of DLD, we cannot see that SES would affect the choice between the four screening models tested, negating the need for a control group. The issue of different professionals, with unclear or inadequate training, being involved is discussed. To this, we want to clarify that the screening method was already established and has been used for around two decades in the CHCs, albeit conducted solely in Swedish with 36-month-old children, rather than in multiple languages with 30-month-olds. Finally, we are in agreement with Perry and Singhs that the sample size was relatively small and the inclusion of more children would strengthen reliability.