Joginder Singh Susheel, Raman Suvalaxmi, Lim XinTong, Rajakumar Vinitaa, A Razak Rogayah, Chu Shin Ying
Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 3;20(6):e0325183. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325183. eCollection 2025.
Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often struggle to participate in traditional language assessments due to their limited mobility, making it challenging for speech-language therapists (SLTs) to accurately assess their language abilities. In recent years, there has been evidence that eye-tracking is an effective way of measuring the receptive language abilities of children who demonstrate difficulties with traditional language assessments. This study aimed to (i) develop eye-tracking assessment materials based on a receptive vocabulary subtest of a Malay language assessment and (ii) evaluate the performance of children with CP on the receptive vocabulary assessment conducted via eye-tracking, compared to their performance on a traditional receptive vocabulary assessment. The first phase of the study focused on developing eye-tracking receptive vocabulary assessment materials from the Malay Preschool Language Assessment Tool and trialling the materials and assessment protocol. This phase involved 15 typically developing children aged 4-6 years. The finalized materials and protocol were administered to 15 children with CP in the second phase. Each child attended two assessment sessions: the first was a traditional receptive vocabulary assessment, and the second utilized eye-tracking technology. Children practiced eye-tracking through online games. Results showed that eight children with CP performed better in the eye-tracking assessment, two scored similarly across both methods, and five scored lower during eye-tracking. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test conducted revealed no significant difference in scores across both assessment methods (p > .05). Furthermore, most children exhibited poor consistency in their scores across the two methods. These findings suggest that while some children with CP may benefit from receptive vocabulary assessments conducted via eye-tracking, no single assessment method is optimal for all children with CP. Instead, children with CP may benefit from a combination of assessment methods, including eye-tracking, to increase the accuracy of assessment results.
患有脑瘫（CP）的儿童由于行动能力有限，往往难以参与传统的语言评估，这使得言语治疗师（SLT）难以准确评估他们的语言能力。近年来，有证据表明，眼动追踪是测量那些在传统语言评估中存在困难的儿童接受性语言能力的有效方法。本研究旨在：（i）基于马来语评估的接受性词汇子测试开发眼动追踪评估材料；（ii）与传统接受性词汇评估的表现相比，评估通过眼动追踪进行的接受性词汇评估中脑瘫儿童的表现。研究的第一阶段重点是从马来语学前语言评估工具中开发眼动追踪接受性词汇评估材料，并对材料和评估方案进行试验。这一阶段涉及15名4 - 6岁发育正常的儿童。在第二阶段，将最终确定的材料和方案应用于15名脑瘫儿童。每个儿童参加两次评估：第一次是传统的接受性词汇评估，第二次使用眼动追踪技术。儿童通过在线游戏练习眼动追踪。结果显示，8名脑瘫儿童在眼动追踪评估中表现更好，2名在两种方法中的得分相似，5名在眼动追踪过程中得分较低。进行的Wilcoxon符号秩检验显示，两种评估方法的得分没有显著差异（p>0.05）。此外，大多数儿童在两种方法中的得分一致性较差。这些发现表明，虽然一些脑瘫儿童可能从通过眼动追踪进行的接受性词汇评估中受益，但没有一种单一的评估方法对所有脑瘫儿童都是最佳的。相反，脑瘫儿童可能受益于包括眼动追踪在内的多种评估方法的组合，以提高评估结果的准确性。
