Profiles of language development in pre-school children: a longitudinal latent class analysis of data from the Early Language in Victoria Study Child: Care, Health, and Development, 05/03/2012

Ukoumunne OC et al. – Developmental profiles show that some pre–schoolers' language is characterized by periods of accelerated development, slow development and catch–up growth. Given the uncertainty in classifying children into these profiles, use of this knowledge for identifying children who will be impaired on school entry is not straightforward. The findings do, however, indicate greater need for language enrichment programmes among disadvantaged children.