Assessment of pragmatic difficulties and socio-emotional adjustment in practice.

Background: In professional practice, psychologists and other professionals such as therapists and teachers receive referrals of many children who present with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that are difficult to understand and assess. The problems of some of these children may stem from pragmatic difficulties in communication. This paper reports the results of a study on the use of checklists in professional practice to assist in the identification of these difficulties.