Assessment of Language Disorders in Children. (2001). By Rebecca J. McCauley. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 10 Industrial Ave., Mahwah, NJ 07430. 376 pages, $89.95. Reviewed by Linda Weiner, Philadelphia, PA.

Assessment of Language Disorders in Children is intended as a textbook for graduate and undergraduate students entering the field of communication disorders. Its purpose is to teach how to select, create, and use assessment measures. The format of the book consists of three sections. Part I offers an introduction to the concepts of measurement and provides criteria for examination of standardized tests. There is also a succinct and practical reviewing guide. Part II contains a brief overview of four categories of childhood language disorders: specific language impairment, autism, mental retardation, and hearing impairment. Part III covers additional measurement principles as needed for screening and diagnosing language disorders. The author points out the difficulty of identifying children who are language-impaired given the limited availability of technically adequate screening measures. Ecological assessment, criterion-referenced measures, and language sampling are stressed as important components of a language assessment. At the end of each chapter, the author provides a review of key ideas along with a glossary, a list of recommended readings, and study questions.

As an introductory text, this book has tremendous scope and detail. However, it falls short on several levels. At times, the author appears to lose site of her intended audience by addressing comments to fellow researchers rather than college students. Complicated statistical theories are defined but not clearly explained because the author does not provide practical examples. For instance, when teaching how to design a norm-referenced test, the author creates a hypothetical one, "The Amazing University of Vermont Test"—I suppose this is to provide a lighthearted example, but why not include one that is related to language impairment?

In contrast to the complicated measurement principles presented in the first and last parts of the book, the overview of special education categories is presented quite simplistically. Although social skill deficits are mentioned as related problems for children with mental retardation, autism, and specific language impairment, the information for the assessment of these pragmatic communication concerns is lacking. These seemingly tangential social skill problems are primary in the realm of the speech-language pathologist. It would be helpful if these behavioral indicators were more closely discussed as an important facet of assessment.