Evaluating the TICOALA Tablet Tool for Language Comprehension and Learning in Children Aged 3 to 7 Attending Child Psychiatry Services in Paris

What this Trial Is About

Language plays a vital role in childrens cognitive, emotional, social, and psychological development, influencing academic success and social adjustment. Language difficulties are common reasons for children to seek help in child psychiatry and often appear alongside psychiatric conditions like anxiety or attention disorders. However, speech-language assessments are rarely done systematically in these settings due to limited availability of specialists. The study evaluates the TICOALA tool, an interactive tablet test designed to quickly and engagingly assess childrens understanding of words and sentences, as well as their ability to learn new words. This tool aims to be integrated into clinical care to provide an initial language evaluation and help determine the need for a formal speech-language assessment. The study focuses on children aged 3 to 7 attending a child psychiatry service in Paris. Participants will use the TICOALA tool during the study, and researchers will assess how acceptable the tool is to children, clinicians, and parents. They will also collect information about childrens language skills and analyze how these relate to clinical and background factors such as socio-economic status, play and screen time, and language exposure. The main measure is the acceptability of the tool over four months, with the study running from March 2026 to March 2028.

Assessment of Language Comprehension and Learning in Children Attending Child Psychiatry Services (TICOALA-SOINS)