This study compared duration characteristics of single repetitions of single-syllable words in the speech of 15 preschool children near the onset of stuttering to those of 18 nonstuttering children. There appeared to be a tendency for repetitions of very early stutterers to be faster than repetitions of nonstuttering children. (Author/DB)

Seventy-nine children (ages 3 through 7) were asked to discriminate between the speech (fluent and disfluent) of two puppets, identify the one who "speaks like you," and evaluate their speech. Children from age 3 showed evidence of some awareness of disfluencies but most children reached full awareness at 5. Negative evaluation of…

This study investigated two aspects of non-symbolic phonological knowledge (knowledge of the acoustic/perceptual space and of the articulatory/production space) in six preschool-age children with phonological disorders and six typically developing age peers. Results suggest that phonological knowledge is multifaceted, and that seemingly…

Comparison of the speech of 37 preschool children with speech-language impairment (SLI), 40 language-matched children, and 45 age-matched children found that errors in a set of morphemes marking tense characterized the SLI children. Evidence supporting the use of these morphemes as clinical markers for SLI is offered. (DB)

This study reports on the development and initial testing of the Preschool Speech Intelligibility Measure (PSIM), a single-word, multiple-choice intelligibility measure. The PSIM was adapted from the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech and is designed to plot changes in children's intelligibility across time. (Author)

Peer popularity was compared across three groups of preschool children: (1) children with normally developing language skills; (2) children with speech and/or language impairments; and (3) children learning English as a Second Language. Normally developing children were the most popular. A receptive measure of single word vocabulary was the best…

Reviews relationships between phonological impairment, phonological awareness, and development of literacy in young children. Treatment options for preschoolers with phonological impairments are summarized. Critical variables in treatment research are identified, and four recent treatment research reports based on different phonological theories…