Language development

Cerebral palsy

Population

Speech production

Politics

Epistemology

Psychiatry

Developmental psychology

Philosophy

Cognition

Political science

Cognitive psychology

Psychology

Apraxia

Articulation (sociology)

Aphasia

Dysarthria

Speech disorder

Computer science

Audiology

Language delay

Speech recognition

Intelligibility (philosophy)

Medicine

Environmental health

Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology

Aim To examine the frequency, characteristics, and factors associated with speech delay and disorder in a community sample of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Method Participants were 84 children (37 females, 47 males; aged between 4y 11mo–6y 6mo) with CP identified through a population‐based registry. Speech and oromotor function were systematically evaluated to provide a differential diagnosis of articulation, phonological, and motor speech disorders. Results In total, 82% (69/84) of participants had delayed or disordered speech production, including minimally verbal presentations ( n =20). Verbal participants ( n =64) presented with dysarthria (78%), articulation delay or disorder (54%), phonological delay or disorder (43%), features of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) (17%), or mixed presentations across these conditions. Speech intelligibility was poorest in those with dysarthria and features of CAS. Speech delay or disorder in verbal participants was associated with language impairment ( p =0.002) and reduced health‐related quality of life ( p =0.04) (Fisher’s exact test). Poorer speech accuracy (i.e. lower percentage consonants correct) correlated with greater impairments in both language ( p &lt;0.001) and oromotor function ( p &lt;0.001) (Spearman’s test). Interpretation The speech profile of children with CP is characterized by impairment at multiple levels of speech production (phonetic, cognitive‐linguistic, neuromuscular execution, and high‐level planning/programming), highlighting the importance of a personalized differential diagnosis informing targeted treatment.

Speech in children with cerebral palsy