Use of the Lena Autism Screen With Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Medicina
VanDam, M., & Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (2019).
Medicina, 55(8), 495.
This systematic review investigates the use of Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) in screening children who may be on the autism spectrum or those who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH).
National Institutes of Health; National Science Foundation; Washington Research Foundation
2004-2019
Peer-reviewed, published empirical studies
8
Two out of eight studies investigating the use of Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) to discriminate between children on the autism spectrum, children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH), and children with typical development reported a sensitivity of 75%-86% and a specificity of 86%-98%. All eight studies demonstrated that LENA, which used automatic vocal analysis, was able to discriminate between groups. These rates suggest that LENA is a non-invasive screening tool that may help identify children with ASD, D/HH, or typical development. Additional, high-quality research is indicated to determine LENA's potential diagnostic benefit in various settings and for individuals with comorbidities or those who speak languages other than English.
