Assessment Tools for Communication/Language and Auditory Development

The assessment tools listed below are recommended by their authors/publishers for use with infants beginning at birth. This list does not include all protocols available for use with infants and toddlers.

• Early Listening Function (ELF)
  Author: Anderson, K.L.
  Type of Assessment: Checklist/Rating Scale
  Publisher: Available on-line at Phonak Hearing Systems, 2003

• Functional Auditory Performance Indicators: An Integrated Approach to Auditory Development (PDF)
  Author: Stredler-Brown, A., & Johnson, C. D.
  Type of Assessment: Checklist/Rating scale
  Publisher: Available on-line at Colorado Department of Education, Special Education Services Unit, 2004.
  

• The Kendall Conversational Proficiency P-Levels Scale Supplement: Stages of Language Development Including Features of ASL (Appendix B-1 in “The Toolkit: Appendices for Starting with Assessment: A Developmental Approach to Deaf Children’s Literacy”
  Author: French, M. M.
  Type of Assessment: Checklist/Rating Scale
  Publisher: Gallaudet University, 1999, available through Clerc Center Catalog

• SKI-HI Language Development Scale
  Author: Watkins, S.
  Type of Assessment: Checklist/Rating Scale
  Publisher: HOPE, Inc., 2004 (2nd edition)
  * Available in Spanish

• The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories: Words, Gestures, and Sentences
  Authors: Fenson, L., Dale, P.S., Reznick, J.S., Thal, D., Bates, E., Hartung, J.P., Pethick, S., & Reilly, J.S.
  Type of Assessment: Norm-Referenced
  Publisher: Singular Publishing Group, Inc., San Diego, C.A., 1993
  * Available in Spanish

• Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS)/Infant-Toddler: Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS)
  Authors: Robbins, A.M., Zimmerman-Phillips, S., & Osberger, M.J.
  Type of Assessment: Parent/caregiver interview
  Publisher: Available in the book, Cochlear Implants for Kids, by Estabrooks, W., A.G. Bell Association for the Deaf, 1998

• The Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale
  Author: Rossetti, L.
  Type of Assessment: Criterion-Referenced
  Publisher: LinguiSystems, Inc. 1990

Additional Assessment Information

• The Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center Cochlear Implant Education Center website provides a comprehensive list of scales of development and assessment tools for children of all ages. Many of these assessments are appropriate for children who do not have implants.