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Delayed and disordered development of articulation and phonology between four and seven years
Dodd, Barbara Ttofari-Eecen, Kerry Brommeyer, Katherine Ng, Kelly Reilly, Sheena Morgan, Angela
Dodd, Barbara
Ttofari-Eecen, Kerry
Brommeyer, Katherine
Ng, Kelly
Reilly, Sheena
Morgan, Angela
Abstract
Some children’s speech impairment resolves spontaneously. Others have persistent problems affecting academic and social development. Identifying early markers that reliably predict long-term outcome would allow better prioritization for preschool intervention. This article evaluates the significance of different types of speech errors, made by 93 four-year-olds in a longitudinal population cohort study, for performance at seven years. At four years, the non-age appropriate speech errors made on standardized assessments were categorized as: phonologically delayed (error patterns typical of younger children); or, some errors atypical of normal development, including consistent errors (e.g. word initial consonant deletion), inconsistent pronunciations of the same word, or lateral distortion of /s, z/). Delayed children, some with occasional interdental /s, z/ articulation errors, were more likely to resolve (67%) than those making atypical errors (35%) by seven years. Qualitative analyses indicated that children making few atypical errors were more likely to resolve, irrespective of total number of errors or whether they received intervention. The findings’ theoretical implications relate to deficits underlying phonological disorders. Clinical implications concern assessment measures and prioritization for intervention.
Keywords
articulation, longitudinal study, phonological delay, phonological disorder, predicting persistence
Date
2018
Type
Journal article
Journal
Child Language Teaching and Therapy
Book
Volume
34
Issue
2
Page Range
87-99
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Allied Health
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
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Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled