title: Narrative ability of children with speech sound disorders and the prediction of later literacy skills.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main purpose of this study was to examine how children with isolated speech sound disorders (SSDs; n = 20), children with combined SSDs and language impairment (LI; n = 20), and typically developing children (n = 20), ages 3;3 (years;months) to 6;6, differ in narrative ability. The second purpose was to determine if early narrative ability predicts school-age (8-12 years) literacy skills.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study employed a longitudinal cohort design. The children completed a narrative retelling task before their formal literacy instruction began. The narratives were analyzed and compared for group differences. Performance on these early narratives was then used to predict the children's reading decoding, reading comprehension, and written language ability at school age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant group differences were found in children's (a) ability to answer questions about the story, (b) use of story grammars, and (c) number of correct and irrelevant utterances. Regression analysis demonstrated that measures of story structure and accuracy were the best predictors of the decoding of real words, reading comprehension, and written language. Measures of syntax and lexical diversity were the best predictors of the decoding of nonsense words.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Combined SSDs and LI, and not isolated SSDs, impact a child's narrative abilities. Narrative retelling is a useful task for predicting which children may be at risk for later literacy problems.
authors.affiliation: Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center, Cleveland, OH, USA. bxl@case.edu
authors.forename: Rachel L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Wellman
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Freebairn
authors.forename: Allison A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Avrich
authors.forename: Amy J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D007807:Language Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D010700:Phonetics; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011932:Reading; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014956:Writing