Differential Diagnosis of Pediatric Speech Sound Disorder

Abstract

Theoretical accounts and clinical management of pediatric speech sound disorders (SSD) are limited by previous research. Participants’ speech difficulties have been inadequately described, reflecting the lack of clarity in existing diagnostic guidelines. Performance measures have primarily focused on the articulation of consonants in single words rather than phonological competence and the cognitive-linguistic abilities underlying speech development. Evidence-based practice reviews conflate studies of heterogeneous speech-disordered populations who received widely differing amounts of therapy using different intervention approaches. More recently, however, researchers have begun to explore assessment measures that allow differential diagnosis of subgroups of SSD in terms of qualitative analyses of speech errors and underlying cognitive linguistic abilities. These measures have allowed long-term follow-up to better predict which children will have future literacy difficulties and to identify specific underlying deficits that inform intervention.