Simple developmental speech delay: a follow-up study.

The authors followed 38 children with delayed speech development approximately two to four years after initial diagnosis, assessing and comparing their subsequent speech and language, and over-all development. Nearly all of the children had appropriate language levels for their general development. Just over half had less articulation competence than expected for their age, but this was not related to language achievement or age. It appears that the prognosis for future language development is favourable for these children. The results suggest that articulation might be a developmentally related process with a good prognosis, but further follow-up is necessary to determine ultimate competence of children in whom this is delayed.