PEDIATRICS Vol. 36 No. 4 October 1965, pp. 637-647
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SPEECH AND LANGUAGE DISORDERS IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN: A PREVENTIVE APPROACH

Gertrud L. Wyatt Ph.D.1

1 Wellesley Public Schools, Wellesley, Massachusetts

From 4 to 9% of elementary school children with normal to superior intelligence exhibit symptoms of developmental speech and language disorders, such as: stuttering (or stammering);* severely defective articulation in the absence of hearing loss; and finally the syndrome of multiple perceptual, motor, and language disorder. These developmental deviations or disorders interfere markedly with early school adaptation. If no adequate help is forthcoming the symptoms may increase in severity and interfere with the achievement and social adaptation of the children concerned. The sex ratio reported has been, as a rule, 75% boys to 25% girls.

The importance of the preschool years for language development has been established in many studies.1, 2 McCarthy referred to the "amazingly rapid acquisition of an extremely complex system of symbolic habits by young children,"1 while Penfield and Roberts3 mentioned the "biological time table for language learning," and assumed that the most intensive learning occurs between 2 and 4 years of age.

Studies in language development carried out earlier in the century were mostly normative, focusing upon the number of different sounds and words mastered by the majority of children at a given age1, 4, 5 Thus we expect the "average" child to begin using his first words between 10 and 18 months of age, to master approximately 300 words at age 2, and approximately 1,000 words at age 3. In a more recent study, Templin compared her findings concerning children's learning of consonant sounds with those of other investigators.6 The pediatrician, trying to evaluate a child's stage of language development may want to know what specific sounds a child should be able to master at what particular age.

Submitted on January 5, 1965
Accepted on February 19, 1965