Abstract

Within the child and youth health service sector, no standard protocol has been developed to detect language deficiencies in children between the age of 0-6. The Netherlands Centre for Child and Youth Health has drafted an 'opinion' on how such language deficiencies could best be recognized until such standard protocol is available. Child and youth health service professionals are in regular contact with -almost- all children in The Netherlands from early infancy. This makes them very well placed to detect language deficiency at an early stage. It is very important to recognise language deficiencies at an early stage. Language helps to structure thoughts and perceptions, which in turn helps to regulate behaviour. Language is also an instrument to understand emotions and communicate them to others. This is essential for children and those making up their social environment. When the development of a child's language skills is lagging behind, this may increase its risk to develop language and learning problems later in life. It may also impact on behaviour and quality of life of the child in question.