Correlates of social development in children with communication disorders: the concurrent predictive value of verbal short-term memory span.

Linguistic and cognitive correlates of social skill were examined in a clinically selected sample of children with communication disorders. Thirty-two children aged between 5 and 10 years were assessed using a questionnaire-based sociability scale. Specially designed measures of verbal and visuo-spatial short-term memory span were administered, as well as standardized tests of grammatical and lexical comprehension. Multiple regression analyses revealed strong prediction of social skill from STM measures but not from comprehension scores. The prediction was based on a striking negative correlation between serial word span and sociability. This word-span measure could offer a useful tool in the assessment of children with communication disorders. However, attention is drawn to the substantial number of children in the sample whose patterns of cognitive, linguistic and social skill are not clearly differentiated. It is suggested that assessment should aim to specify as clearly as possible individual patterns of strength and weakness and avoid unwarranted categorization.