Search

This article provides a review of contemporary instruments for the developmentalassessment of children aged 0–4 years and their applicability for children withspecial needs. The issues involved in the developmental assessment of children with special needs are discussed, and, on the basis of these issues, various instruments are then evaluated.Method: A literature search was carried out for articles about or using standardized developmental assessment instruments for children aged 0–4 years. Results: Eighteen instruments were found, of which 2 were nonverbal and 2were designed for motor-impaired children. The instruments varied in terms of their suitability for children with special needs.Conclusion: The range of instruments is limited, especially for children youngerthan 2 years of age. Instruments for children with motor or hearing/languageimpairments are available, but their psychometric properties need to be researched and improved. For children with a visual impairment, no appropriate instrument is currently available.

OBJECTIVE We introduce a novel test that allows pictorial, nonverbal assessment of action understanding. BACKGROUND Focusing on action goals and the sequential nature of actions, the "Tomato and Tuna Test" tests whether exposure to the accomplished goal of an action is sufficient to infer the preceding action. This aspect has rarely been addressed in conventional paradigms. METHODS We used the Tomato and Tuna Test in conjunction with another task, the Kissing and Dancing Test, to detect action understanding deficits in 11 patients (mean age 72 ± 6 years) with chronic brain lesions ± aphasia. We compared their performance to an age- and education-matched control group and to 15 young controls (mean age 24 ± 3 years). To investigate the influence of language deficits on test performance, we compared the scores of our patients with and without aphasia. RESULTS Our patients were less accurate than the matched controls on the Tomato and Tuna Test, though not slower. The Kissing and Dancing Test did not differentiate between patients and matched controls. Young controls performed better than patients on both tests. CONCLUSIONS We found no performance differences between our aphasic and nonaphasic patients, confirming our assumption that both tests measure action understanding without requiring intact language abilities. We recommend the "Tomato and Tuna Test" as a new nonverbal measure of action understanding that can reveal subtle deficits.

This article provides a review of contemporary instruments for the developmental assessment of children aged 0–4 years and their applicability for children with special needs. The issues involved in the developmental assessment of children with special needs are discussed, and, on the basis of these issues, various instruments are then evaluated. Method: A literature search was carried out for articles about or using standardized developmental assessment instruments for children aged 0–4 years. Results: Eighteen instruments were found, of which 2 were nonverbal and 2 were designed for motor-impaired children. The instruments varied in terms of their suitability for children with special needs. Conclusion: The range of instruments is limited, especially for children younger than 2 years of age. Instruments for children with motor or hearing/language impairments are available, but their psychometric properties need to be researched and improved. For children with a visual impairment, no appropriate instrument is currently available.