Play and Language in Developmentally Disordered Preschoolers: A New Approach to Classification

Two related research problems are investigated. First, an empirical approach to classifying developmental disorder is presented. This approach induces types of developmental disorder defined in terms of functional criteria. The classifications derived are then used to validate the classificatory scheme and the set of play and language indicators. This second analysis demonstrates that both the classificatory scheme and the play/language indicators are correlated as hypothesized. In particular, linguistic capacity and peer play performance are the most important discriminators of developmental disorder. The clinical implications of the data analytic approach and the findings are also discussed.