Editorial: The parameters of early language screening

Abstract

The process whereby early speech and language delay in children is identified has attracted considerable attention in recent years because it is widely recognized that early delays may affect subsequent schooling and that they may be indicative of other developmental difficulties.Yet many practitioners are uncertain as to how best to carry it out.The broad geographical spread of the authors represented in the present volume (France (Roy and Maeder), Ireland (McGinty), USA (Glascoe), Sweden (Westerlund and Sundelin) and Holland (Maas)) provides an opportunity to examine a number of different approaches to the same problem. The practicalities of the health systems (organized at either local or national levels) impact on the feasibility of identification and the pool of children identified. This mass or population screening can only really be conceptualized within a public health system which seeks to monitor the development of all children.