Play-language relationships in young children with developmental delays: implications for assessment.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine whether the reported parallels between symbolic play and normal language development were evidenced in 6 children with developmental delays of varying etiologies. Subjects' play and language behavior over a 6-month period was videotaped and analyzed during free play and modeling tasks. Although results supported the correspondences previously reported between normal language development and symbolic play, the variability across observations in the present subjects was more marked than expected. Implications for clinical assessment are discussed.