Who to Refer for Speech Therapy at 4 Years of Age Versus Who to “Watch and Wait”?

Abstract

Objective To examine predictors of speech disorder resolution versus persistence at age 7 years in children with speech errors at age 4 years. Study design Participants were drawn from a longitudinal, community cohort. Assessment at age 4 years (N = 1494) identified children with speech errors. Reassessment at age 7 years allowed categorization into resolved or persistent categories. Logistic regression examined predictors of speech outcome, including family history, sex, socioeconomic status, nonverbal intelligence, and speech error type (delay vs disorder). Results At age 7 years, persistent errors were seen in over 40% of children who had errors at age 4 years. Speech symptomatology was t..