you won't believe this

Fri Feb 29 01:09:47 UTC 2008

Dear Colleagues,

I believe a response is desperately needed here from the research community - especially because of ethical issues involved.
Here is how the LENA website advertises the product:

Parents that have been desperately searching for answers 
and a way to measure and improve their child's language 
development now have LENA.
If you are DESPERATELY searching for answers because you feel something is wrong with your child's communicative development, consulting with a linguist, speech pathologist or a child development specialist is in order, not buying LENA for $399. That approach needs to be the priority for the DESPERATE parent, not purchasing a product that in itself will not help.

Further, it is stunning that there is a not a word mentioned on the LENA website about how the quality (rather than quantity) of interactions and speech impacts linguistic/intellectual growth.

One of the parent testimonials cited was a real surprise.

“Getting to see the results of how much I interact with my child 
shows me how many times during the day I am just not cutting it. 
Awareness of these problems will help us improve greatly.” 

I am all for awareness, but spreading the belief that parents can use the LENA system to identify when and how they are just not cutting it when it comes to supporting their child's linguistic development is clearly disturbing.

Isabelle, please let me know how I can help.

Krisztina
------------------------------------ Krisztina Zajdó, M.A., M.A., Ph.D. Linguist, Speech scientistAssistant Professor of Speech-Language Pathology
Director of the Child Speech/Phonology Lab
University of WyomingDivision of Communication DisordersDept. 3311 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie, WY 82071Ph: 307-766-6405F: 307-766-6829zajdo at hotmail.com------------------------------------ 

From: khirshpa at temple.eduSubject: Re: you won't believe thisDate: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:50:25 -0500To: info-childes at googlegroups.comGreat to hear from you!  Are you up for drafting a response?  I am a bit crazed for the next couple of days and then I leave for Utah and San Francisco.  Whew. What have you been up to? Kathy

On Feb 28, 2008, at 11:31 AM, isa barriere wrote:

Dear Kathy,
Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

As the Director of Research in a pre-school center that serves a very large number (> 2,000)of children from low SES (and many different langauge backgrounds) and that incoporates a clinic (EI 0 to 3 and special ed 3 to 21 - 3,000) in which I regularly contribute to parent'sworkshops and staff profesisonal development, I think it is essential that we write a response pointing out the many many factors that we know/don't know bout that may impact timing of language developmental stages.  I also suggest that we should try to do so in collboration perhaps with representatives of relevant service providers (such as professional SLP organization ASHA etc).

Let me know how I or other members of the organizations I work for and other colleagues can help.

I look forwrad to hearing from you and to other people's reactions. 

isabelle Barriere, PhD
Director of Policy for Research & Education
Yeled v'Yalda Early Childhood cneter (www.yeled.org)
& Co-Director, YVY Research Insititute (http://www.yeled.org/res.asp)
& Research Associate, Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society (RISLUS), CUNY Graduate center.

On 2/28/08, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek <khirshpa at temple.edu> wrote: 

I just read the article in the NYTimes on baby techtronics part of which described the Lena system.  Yes, Lena is in the news again.  The adds from their web site tell us that it is relevant to any parent concerned about "language delays, autism or transitioning an adopted child!"  I am copying the description from the Times and thought we might all want to check out how our research is interpreted in the marketplace. Does this require a response from our community?  What is our professional responsibility when this keeps coming up in the news? 

Kathy

Last on our list was the LENA System ($399) a language measurement tool developed by Infoture, in Boulder, Colo. The system is based on research demonstrating a correlation between the amount parents talk to their babies during their first three years and their professional success later in life.

The LENA System includes a credit card device and several children's outfits designed with large pockets in the front. Several days a month, you slip the device into the clothing and it records conversation between parent and child.

At the end of the day, you plug it into your personal computer. Special software (available for Windows, but not Macs) analyzes the speech — separating adult words and baby gurgling from other noises — and reports on how many words you have spoken to your baby, how often your baby responds, and where you match up against the rest of the American population, to ensure your infant is getting that all-important verbal edge on other infants.

My girls are a bit too young for the LENA, which Infoture recommends for infants from 2 months to 4 years. Instead I called Jennifer Jacobs, a mother of two from Boise, Idaho, who used the device to ensure her youngest child, Katherine, was not getting left behind.

http://www.lenababy.com/

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