Hodnotenie jazykových schopností vyššieho rádu u detí s podozrením na adhd v sociálnom kontexte
Assessment of Higher-Order Language Abilities in Children with Suspected ADHD within a Social Context

Summary/Abstract: In Slovakia, there is a paucity of a standardised instrument for the assessment of higher- order language abilities that would allow for the identification of difficulties in the pragmatic language domain in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Individuals diagnosed with ADHD frequently demonstrate deficiencies in this domain, which primarily manifest in their social functioning. However, when commonly available speech-language assessment tools are employed, these individuals typically do not meet the diagnostic criteria for a communication disorder. The objective of this pilot comparative study was to examine the discriminative ability of a newly developed Slovak diagnostic instrument, the Test for the Assessment of Children‘s Reasoning in a Social Context (Zubáková, Siekelová, unpublished), to distinguish children with suspected ADHD from neurotypical peers. The research sample comprised 30 children who spoke Slovak and were divided into two groups: children with suspected ADHD (N = 15) and children without suspected ADHD (N = 15). The division of the sample into these two groups was based on questionnaire-based assessments completed by parents and/or teachers. The groups were matched according to age, sex, and school grade. The findings indicated that children with suspected ADHD demonstrated significantly lower overall test performance in comparison to their control peers. The most marked disparities were evident in the domains of language reasoning, specifically in tasks pertaining to drawing conclusions, prediction, and the identification of causes. These represent complex higher-order language abilities that require the integration of pragmatic abilities and executive functions. The findings suggest that the assessment of higher-order language abilities may contribute to more accurate diagnostic practices for children with ADHD and support targeted speech-language therapy aimed at improving their social functioning.

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