Oral Reading and Expressive Language After Childhood Traumatic Brain Injury Trajectory and Correlates of Change Over Time

Oral reading and expressive language skills were examined in 2 cohorts of children aged 5-15 years, who had mild, moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury. Children recruited prospectively from time of injury were assessed on 5 occasions over 2 years in a longitudinal study of change in reading skills, using the Gray Oral Reading Test-3rd Edition, and in expressive language, using the Formulated Sentences subtest of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-3rd Edition. Contributions of related cognitive-linguistic skills were also examined. Children recruited retrospectively were studied on a single occasion in a cross-sectional design investigating the contribution of age-related variables to the reading and sentence formulation scores. Similar to previous studies of childhood traumatic brain injury, children injured when younger initially showed a more rapid rate of recovery but poorer overall performance on outcome measures than did children injured when older. Socioeconomic status strongly predicted outcome for both reading and expressive language.