Naming Abilities of Children Treated for Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia

The naming abilities of a group of 23 children who had completed central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis for acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL) were assessed using the Boston Naming Test. Scores obtained by the children treated for ALL were compared with those of a non-neurologically impaired control group matched for age and sex.The scores of the 16 youngest subjects were compared with the normative data published by Kirk (1992). In addition, an analysis of the types of naming errors demonstrated was performed. Test scores of the ALL group were found to be significantly lower than those obtained by the control group. The distribution of error types occurring in the ALL group, however, was identical with that of the control group.