Problems in speech sound production in young children. An inventory study of the opinions of speech therapists

Objective: Analysis of examination procedure and diagnosis of articulation problems by speech therapists. Study design: Survey study. Materials and methods: Eighty-five Dutch speech therapists (23% response), working in private practises or involved in language screening procedures in Youth Health Care, were questioned regarding the incidence of articulation problems in their practices, the manner of examination, the normative data used, and the importance attached to identifying articulation problems. Results: According to the speech therapists, articulation problems are present in the majority of children (90%) in their practices. In children between 2 and 5 years of age, 45%; in children between 5 and 8 years of age, 36%; above age 8, about 14% of the children still have articulation problems. Despite their opinion that articulation problems often form a separate aspect of language development, all respondents indicated that they always investigate the speech sound development as part of a total speech and language examination. Frequently, more than one instrument is used. However, none of these instruments are standardised. The speech therapists prefer to examine the children at about 4 years of age, despite their opinion that the speech sounds develop until about 6 years of age. For them, this raises the problem to distinguish between articulation in development and articulation problems. They have the opinion that early treatment is important because of assumed relations with social-emotional development and reading and writing abilities later on. Conclusion: The speech therapists taking part in this study have a good view of the speech sound development of young children. However, due to their concern about communication, social-emotional development, and reading and writing abilities later on, they prefer to identify and treat articulation problems at an early age. More detailed research into the variations in speech sound development, in relation to language development, is needed in order to arrive at effective normative data. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.