Objective: The aim of this study is to analyze the development of speech ability in Mandarin-speaking infants and children with normal hearing using MUSS and to provide a normal value control for the evaluation of speech ability in children with hearing loss. Methods: From September 2012 to January 2023, a total of 256 infants and children aged 1-60 months in Mandarin language environment participated in this study. 200 infants and children aged from 1 to 60 months were finally included, whose hearing was considered normal according to the history collection, high-risk registers for hearing loss and hearing screening. All infants and children were divided into 10 groups with 20 infants or children in each group. They were: 1 month, 2-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-9 months, 10-12 months, 13-18 months, 19-24 months, 25-36 months, 37-48 months, and 49-60 months. Using SPSS 19.0 software for data analysis, we calculated regression equations based on fitting curves. Results: The language ability of infants and children with normal hearing increased with age and reached ceiling at 56.5months.The regression equation was: score=-0.009 3×(age) 2+2.179×(age)+6.718 6, r2=0.85; age=0.003 9×(score) 2+0.148 4×(score)+2.708, r2=0.85. Conclusions: The speech ability of infants and children with normal hearing shows an increasing trend with age. Scores of different speech skills can be predicted according to their age. Age can also be predicted according to their scores of different speech skills.
目的： 采用有意义使用言语量表（Meaningful Use of Speech Scale，MUSS）测量使用普通话的听力正常婴幼儿和儿童的言语能力发育正常值，为听力损失患儿的言语能力评估提供正常值对照。 方法： 2012年9月至2023年1月共有256名月龄为1~60个月的北京地区普通话语言交流环境下的婴幼儿和学龄前儿童参与MUSS问卷调查，经过病史采集、耳聋高危因素排查和听力学检查，最终200名婴幼儿和儿童通过所有检查项，其问卷结果纳入统计分析，其中男105名，女95名。按照生理年龄将受试儿童分为10组（1月龄组、2~3月龄组、4~6月龄组、7~9月龄组、10~12月龄组、13~18月龄组、19~24月龄组、25~36月龄组、37~48月龄组和49~60月龄组），每组20人。采用SPSS19.0软件进行数据分析，根据拟合曲线计算回归方程。 结果： 听力正常婴幼儿和儿童的MUSS得分随月龄的增加而提高，在56.5月龄时达到满分。回归方程为：得分=-0.009 3×（月龄）2+2.179×（月龄）+6.718 6，r2=0.85；月龄=0.003 9×（得分）2+0.148 4×（得分）+2.708，r2=0.85。 结论： 普通话听力正常婴幼儿和学龄前儿童言语能力得分随月龄增加呈增长趋势，根据得分和月龄，分别可推断出言语能力发育年龄和与年龄相对应的言语能力得分，可为听力损失患儿言语发育情况的评估提供正常值对照。.

Objective: To investigate the development of receptive and expressive vocabulary in Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (CI) during the first year after CI activation. Methods: A total of 827 children (411 boys and 416 girls) who were implanted CI before 2.5 years of age from October 2019 to December 2022 in the Department of Auditory Implantation, Shandong Provincial ENT Hospital were included in this study. The Infant Checklist of the Mandarin Early Vocabulary Inventory (EVI) was used to assess the quantity and content of receptive and expressive vocabulary at the time of CI activation and at the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th months post-activation. SPSS 22.0 was used to describe the receptive and expressive vocabulary of CI children at the first year after activation. Results: During the first year after CI activation, CI children\'s receptive and expressive vocabulary consistently increased with the CI usage. The average number of receptive vocabulary and expressive vocabulary respectively increased from 0 to 178, and from 0 to 97. At the first year of post-activation, the number of receptive and expressive vocabulary of CI children were superior to that of hearing-age matched typical-hearing children, but fell behind of that of chronological age matched typical-hearing children. In terms of lexical categories, receptive and expressive vocabulary was acquired in the following order: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. Among the top 50 words that CI children could express, nouns were the most common, then followed by verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. Father\'s education level can significantly and positively predictethe receptive vocabulary of CI children at the first year post-activation. At the first year after CI activation, the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles were 113, 149, 178, 202, 223 for the receptive vocabulary, and 9, 37, 97, 148, 188 for expressive vocabulary. Conclusion: For Mandarin speaking children with CI, the receptive and expression vocabulary continuely increased within the first year after CI activation. The ability to grasp receptive vocabulary precedes the ability to express expressive vocabulary. Compared to hearing-age matched typical-hearing children, CI children showed faster rate of the vocabulary growth, and earlier and more frequently verb expression. However, it still larged behind that of chronological age matched hearing normal children. CI children respectively understood and expressed nouns and verbs the first. In children with CI, the first concepts understood and expressed were nouns and verbs. Among the first 50 words expressed, nouns were the most numerous, and the age at which verbs were acquired was earlier than that for hearing-age matched typical-hearing children.
目的： 通过对汉语普通话人工耳蜗植入（cochlear implantation，CI）儿童开机后词汇理解及表达的随访，了解其词汇的发展特征，建立普通话CI儿童早期词汇发展的参考数据。 方法： 选取山东省耳鼻喉医院听觉植入科2019年10月至2022年12月期间827例在2.5岁前植入人工耳蜗的儿童，其中男性411例、女性416例。分别在开机时及开机后1、3、6、9、12个月，使用普通话早期词汇量表（Early Vocabulary Inventory for Mandarin Chinese，EVI）中的婴儿版词表来评估CI儿童的理解性词汇和表达性词汇的数量及内容。应用SPSS 22.0软件统计CI儿童开机1年以内理解性词汇及表达性词汇量，采用R软件描绘不同百分位数下CI儿童理解性词汇及表达性词汇的数量及发展趋势，同时采用EXCEL软件计算并列出了CI儿童最先表达的前50个词汇。 结果： 开机1年以内，随人工耳蜗使用时间延长，CI儿童的理解性词汇量和表达性词汇量均持续增加。理解性词汇量从0个（中位数，下同）单词增加到178个单词，表达性词汇量从0个单词增加到97个单词。开机1年时理解及表达性词汇数量均优于听觉年龄匹配的正常听力儿童，但落后于生理年龄匹配的正常听力儿童。对于词性的理解和表达的掌握顺序依次为名词、动词、形容词和代词。在CI儿童会表达的前50个词中，名词占比最多，其次为动词、形容词和代词。父亲受教育水平可以显著正向预测CI儿童开机1年时的理解性词汇。开机1年时，处于第10、25、50、75、90百分位数的CI儿童对应的理解性词汇量和表达性词汇量分别为113、149、178、202、223以及9、37、97、148、188个。 结论： 普通话CI儿童开机1年以内早期词汇的发展特征为随着开机时间的延长，理解性词汇量和表达性词汇量也随之持续增加，且理解先与表达；词汇发展速度快于听觉年龄匹配的听力正常儿童，但仍落后于生理年龄匹配的听力正常儿童。CI儿童最先理解和表达的是名词和动词，最先表达的前50个词中名词最多，并且动词的习得年龄早于听觉年龄匹配的听力正常儿童。.

UNASSIGNED: Gesture delay in autistic infants and toddlers has been widely reported. The developmental trajectory of gesture production during early childhood is understudied. Thus, little is known about the possible changes of gesture production over time. The present study aimed to document the development of gesture production in autistic children and examine whether child-based factors (chronological age and initial language skills) predicted gesture development.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 33 Chinese-speaking autistic children (Mage = 56.39 months, SD = 8.54 months) played with their parents at four time points over a 9-month period. Their speech was transcribed, and their gestures were coded from parent-child interaction. Multilevel modeling analysis was used to investigate the development of gesture and its associated factors.
UNASSIGNED: The total number of gestures produced by autistic children decreased over time. Among different factors, children\'s initial age significantly and negatively predicted children\'s gesture production, while initial language positively predicted children\'s gesture production.
UNASSIGNED: Gesture delay persists in preschool age. The decline in gesture production was associated with children\'s age and initial language ability. These findings shed light on the difficulties surrounding gesture use in autistic children.

UNASSIGNED: The present study evaluated the applicability of the sentence-focused framework to Mandarin-speaking children with cochlear implants (CIs) by examining the relative contribution of receptive/expressive noun and verb lexicon sizes to later grammatical complexity.
UNASSIGNED: Participants were 51 Mandarin-speaking children who received cochlear implantation before 30 months of age. At 12 months after CI activation, parents were asked to endorse words that their child could understand only or understand and say using the infant version of the Early Vocabulary Inventory. At 24 months after CI activation, parents were asked to endorse the grammatical structures that their children were able to say using the Grammatical Complexity subtest in the Mandarin Communicative Development Inventory-Taiwan. Children\'s receptive/expressive noun and verb lexicon sizes and grammatical complexity scores were computed from these parent checklists.
UNASSIGNED: Correlational analyses showed that children\'s receptive/expressive noun and verb lexicon sizes at 12 months after CI activation were all highly correlated with their grammatical complexity scores at 24 months after CI activation (ρs = .52-.63, ps < .001). Regression analyses further revealed that verb lexicon sizes at 12 months after CI activation outweighed noun lexicon sizes in accounting for grammatical complexity at 24 months after CI activation.
UNASSIGNED: Our findings supported the prediction of the sentence-focused framework. Emphasizing the role of verbs in early intervention has the potential to enhance grammatical outcomes in Mandarin-speaking children with CIs.
UNASSIGNED: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26129044.

BACKGROUND: Language delay affects near- and long-term social communication and learning in toddlers, and, an increasing number of experts pay attention to it. The development of prosody discrimination is one of the earliest stages of language development in which key skills for later stages are mastered. Therefore, analyzing the relationship between brain discrimination of speech prosody and language abilities may provide an objective basis for the diagnosis and intervention of language delay.
METHODS: In this study, all cases(n = 241) were enrolled from a tertiary women\'s hospital, from 2021 to 2022. We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess children\'s neural prosody discrimination abilities, and a Chinese communicative development inventory (CCDI) were used to evaluate their language abilities.
RESULTS: Ninety-eight full-term and 108 preterm toddlers were included in the final analysis in phase I and II studies, respectively. The total CCDI screening abnormality rate was 9.2% for full-term and 34.3% for preterm toddlers. Full-term toddlers showed prosody discrimination ability in all channels except channel 5, while preterm toddlers showed prosody discrimination ability in channel 6 only. Multifactorial logistic regression analyses showed that prosody discrimination of the right angular gyrus (channel 3) had a statistically significant effect on language delay (odd ratio = 0.301, P < 0.05) in full-term toddlers. Random forest (RF) regression model presented that prosody discrimination reflected by channels and brain regions based on fNIRS data was an important parameter for predicting language delay in preterm toddlers, among which the prosody discrimination reflected by the right angular gyrus (channel 4) was the most important parameter. The area under the model Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.687.
CONCLUSIONS: Neural prosody discrimination ability is positively associated with language development, assessment of brain prosody discrimination abilities through fNIRS could be used as an objective indicator for early identification of children with language delay in the future clinical application.

Reading acquisition is a prolonged learning process relying on language development starting in utero. Behavioral longitudinal studies reveal prospective associations between infant language abilities and preschool/kindergarten phonological development that relates to subsequent reading performance. While recent pediatric neuroimaging work has begun to characterize the neural network underlying language development in infants, how this neural network scaffolds long-term language and reading acquisition remains unknown. We addressed this question in a 7-year longitudinal study from infancy to school-age. Seventy-six infants completed resting-state fMRI scanning, and underwent standardized language assessments in kindergarten. Of this larger cohort, forty-one were further assessed on their emergent word reading abilities after receiving formal reading instructions. Hierarchical clustering analyses identified a modular infant language network in which functional connectivity (FC) of the inferior frontal module prospectively correlated with kindergarten-age phonological skills and emergent word reading abilities. These correlations were obtained when controlling for infant age at scan, nonverbal IQ and parental education. Furthermore, kindergarten-age phonological skills mediated the relationship between infant FC and school-age reading abilities, implying a critical mid-way milestone for long-term reading development from infancy. Overall, our findings illuminate the neurobiological mechanisms by which infant language capacities could scaffold long-term reading acquisition.

Connected speech processes (CSPs) occur randomly in everyday conversations of native speakers; however, such phonological variations can bring about challenges for non-native listeners. Looking at CSP literature, there seems to be very few studies that involved young foreign language learners. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the development of connected speech perception skills by focusing on 201 9- to 12-year-old Chinese EFL children. It also incorporated systematic error analysis to further probe into the specific perceptual difficulties. The results indicate that: (1) Despite a significantly ascending trend for the overall growth of perception skills, no significant differences were found between 11 and 12 year olds in elision and contraction, which suggests that the developmental trend varied depending on different CSP types; (2) Although random errors decreased with age, the number of lexicon and syntax errors gradually increased, and the distribution of perceptual errors shifted from the level of words and syllables to that of phonemes; (3) The primary types of errors resulting in the perception difficulties for elision and contraction were consonant errors, grammatical errors and morphology errors. Ergo, this study enhances the understanding of connected speech perception among EFL children and provides some implications for EFL/ESL listening instructions.

The functional brain connectome is highly dynamic over time. However, how brain connectome dynamics evolves during the third trimester of pregnancy and is associated with later cognitive growth remains unknown. Here, we use resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data from 39 newborns aged 32 to 42 postmenstrual weeks to investigate the maturation process of connectome dynamics and its role in predicting neurocognitive outcomes at 2 years of age. Neonatal brain dynamics is assessed using a multilayer network model. Network dynamics decreases globally but increases in both modularity and diversity with development. Regionally, module switching decreases with development primarily in the lateral precentral gyrus, medial temporal lobe, and subcortical areas, with a higher growth rate in primary regions than in association regions. Support vector regression reveals that neonatal connectome dynamics is predictive of individual cognitive and language abilities at 2  years of age. Our findings highlight network-level neural substrates underlying early cognitive development.

Objective: To investigate the features and influencing factors of language in children with various types of speech disorders. Methods: A case-control study was carried out, 262 children with speech disorder had been diagnosed at the language-speech clinic of the Center of Children\'s Healthcare, Children\'s Hospital, Capital Institute of Pediatrics from January 2021 to November 2023, the children with speech sound disorder as the speech sound disorder group, the children with developmental stuttering as the stuttering group. There were 100 typically-developed children who underwent physical checkups at the Center of Healthcare during the same period as the healthy group. All children experienced a standardized evaluation of language with diagnostic receptive and expressive assessment of mandarin-comprehensive(DREAM-C) and questionnaire, One-way ANOVA and LSD test were conducted to compare the differences in overall language, receptive language, expressive language, semantics, and syntax scores among 3 groups of children. According to the results of DREAM-C, the children with speech disorder were divided into language normal group and language delay group. Chi-square test and multivariate Logistic regression were implemented to analyze the association between the linguistic development of children with speech disorder and potential influential factors. Results: There were 145 children in the speech sound disorder group, including 110 males and 35 females respectively, with an age of (5.9±1.0) years; 117 children in the stuttering group, including 91 males and 26 females, with an age of (5.8±1.0) years; 100 children in the healthy group, including 75 males and 25 females, with an age of (5.7±1.2) years. The variations in overall language, expressive language, and syntax scores among 3 groups of children were statistically significant (92±18 vs.96±11 vs. 98±11, 81±18 vs. 84±14 vs. 88±13, 87±16 vs. 89±11 vs. 91±10, F=5.46, 4.69, 3.68, all P<0.05). Pairwise comparison revealed that the speech sound disorder group had lower scores in overall language, expressive language, and syntactic compared to the healthy group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.01) and the overall language score was lower than that of children with stuttering (P<0.05). In terms of overall language and expressive language, there was a statistically significant difference in the incidence of language delay among the three groups of children (15.9% (23/145) vs. 20.5% (24/117) vs. 7.0% (7/100), 46.2% (67/145) vs. 39.3% (46/117) vs. 26.0% (26/100); χ2=7.93, 10.28; both P<0.05). In terms of overall language, the stuttering group took up the highest proportion. In terms of expressive language, the speech sound disorder group accounted for the highest amount. The incidence of language delay in children with speech disorder was 44.3% (116/262). Non-parent-child reading, daily screen time ≥1 hour and screen exposure before 1.5 years of age are risk factors for the development of language in children with speech disorder (OR=1.87, 2.18, 2.01; 95%CI 1.07-3.27, 1.23-3.86, 1.17-3.45; all P<0.01). Negative family history are protective factors for the progress of language ability (OR=0.37, 95%CI 0.17-0.81, P<0.05). Conclusions: Children with speech disorder tend to have easy access to language delay, especially in expressive language and syntax. The occurrence of language delay in children with speech disorder is tightly connected with factors such as the family medical history, parent-child reading, screen time, etc. Attention should be paid to the development of language in children who suffer from speech disorder.
目的： 探讨不同类型言语障碍患儿的语言能力发育特征及其影响因素。 方法： 病例对照研究，选取2021年1月至2023年11月在首都儿科研究所附属儿童医院保健中心语言-言语门诊初次就诊并诊断为言语障碍的262例患儿，其中语音障碍患儿作为语音障碍组、言语流畅障碍患儿作为语畅障碍组。选取同期于儿童保健中心体检的100名健康儿童作为健康组，均进行梦想普通话听力理解和表达能力标准化评估（DREAM-C）检查及问卷调查。采用单因素方差分析和LSD检验比较3组儿童整体语言、听力理解、语言表达、语义、句法能力的发育水平；根据DREAM-C评估结果将言语障碍组患儿分为语言发展正常组及落后组，通过χ2检验、多因素Logistic回归分析言语障碍患儿语言能力发展的影响因素。 结果： 语音障碍组患儿145例，其中男110例、女35例，年龄（5.9±1.0）岁；语畅障碍组患儿117例，其中男91例、女26例，年龄（5.8±1.0）岁；健康组儿童100名，其中男75名、女25名，年龄（5.7±1.2）岁。3组儿童在DREAM-C评估中整体语言、语言表达、句法分数差异均有统计学意义（92±18比96±11、98±11，81±18比84±14、88±13，87±16比89±11、91±10，F=5.46、4.69、3.68，均P<0.05）；两两比较显示语音障碍组整体语言、语言表达、句法能力均低于健康组儿童，差异均有统计学意义（均P<0.01），整体语言能力低于语畅障碍组儿童，差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。语音障碍组、语畅障碍组和健康组整体语言、语言表达能力落后发生率差异均有统计学意义［15.9%（23/145）比20.5%（24/117）、7.0%（7/100），46.2%（67/145）比39.3%（46/117）、26.0%（26/100），χ2=7.93、10.28，均P<0.05］，其中语畅障碍组整体语言落后发生率最高，语音障碍组语言表达能力落后发生率最高。言语障碍患儿语言发展落后的发生率是44.3%（116/262）。无亲子阅读、每日屏幕时间≥1 h、过早屏幕暴露（小于1.5岁）均为言语障碍儿童语言能力发展的危险因素（OR=1.87、2.18、2.01，95%CI 1.07~3.27、1.23~3.86、1.17~3.45，均P<0.05）；无家族相关病史为语言能力发展的保护因素（OR=0.37，95%CI 0.17~0.81，P<0.05）。 结论： 言语障碍患儿容易并发语言发展落后，以语言表达和句法能力落后为主，其语言发展与家族相关病史、亲子阅读、屏幕时间等因素有关，应关注言语障碍患儿语言能力发展。.

BACKGROUND: Our study contributes to the further understanding of the mechanism of foot reflexology. Foot reflexology has been reported to affect hearing recovery, but no physiological evidence has been provided. This lack of evidence hampers the acceptance of the technique in clinical practice.
METHODS: A girl was taken to North Sichuan Medical University Affiliated Hospital for a hearing screen by her parents. Her parents reported that her hearing level was the same as when she was born. The girl was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) by a doctor in the otolaryngology department. After we introduced the foot reflexology project, the parents agreed to participate in the experiment. After 6 months of foot reflexology treatment, the hearing threshold of the girl recovered to a normal level, below 30 dB.
CONCLUSIONS: Foot reflexology should be encouraged in clinical practice and for families of infants with SNHL.