Affiliations: [a] Perinatal Research Centre, University of Queensland | [b] School of Clinical Speech and Language Studies, Trinity College, Dublin | [c] SLT Services, Health Service Executive, North-West Dublin, Ireland
Abstract: An assessment for children with speech difficulties (Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology: DEAP), currently being standardised on an Irish population was evaluated. A clinical population of 57 children, aged between three and seven years, was assessed. The participants were either currently attending therapy or attending a review appointment to determine future clinical management. Children’s performance was compared with normative data and the proportions of children belonging to subgroups characterised by the nature of surface speech errors was compared with previously published data. The results indicated that 14% of the children were performing within normal limits according to the DEAP’s normative data. Children scoring outside the normal range could be differentially diagnosed as having an articulation disorder (2%), phonological delay (44.9%), consistent (30.6%) or inconsistent phonological disorder (22.5%). Qualitative analyses describe the nature of the error patterns observed. The proportion of the children shown to perform below the normal range (86%) is argued to be appropriate for the population assessed, and the ranking of subgroups of speech disorder reflect previous research. The findings suggest that the DEAP is a clinically useful assessment that facilitates valid clinical management decisions in the Irish clinical context.
