title: An objective and time-efficient method for determining severity of childhood speech delay.
abstract: To address the need for an efficient and valid approach to determining the severity of a child's speech delay, this study compared 2 types of sampling procedures to derive a measure of percentage of consonants correct (PCC; L. D. Shriberg and J. Kwiatkowski, 1982). PCC scores of twenty-one 4- to 6-year-old children with speech delay derived from both an imitative sentence task and a conversational task were compared. Scores did not differ significantly and corresponded favorably with a reference criterion (S. M. Benner, 1992) for determining clinical equivalence. The imitative approach required considerably less time to complete. Thus, the sentence imitation procedure offers a valid and efficient alternative to conversational sampling. However, clinicians should consider individual child characteristics when choosing an imitative approach.
authors.affiliation: Nampa School District, 619 South Canyon, Nampa, ID 83686, USA. dcjohns1@mindspring.com
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Audrey D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Weston
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Bain
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D010700:Phonetics; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013068:Speech Production Measurement / Q000379:methods