A 28-YEAR FOLLOW-UP OF ADULTS WITH A HISTORY OF MODERATE PHONOLOGICALDISORDER - EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL RESULTS

The present investigation is a follow-up to a longitudinal study invol ving approximately 400 normally developing children begun in 1960. Fro m this large database, two groups of subjects (now aged 32-34) were as ked to participate in the present project: (a) a group of 24 adults wi th a documented history of a moderate phonological/language disorder t hat persisted through at least the end of first grade (probands), and (b) a group of 28 adults from the same birth cohort and schools who we re known to have had at least average articulation skills over the sam e period (controls). As part of a larger project, these adults were in terviewed about their educational and occupational accomplishments and those of their siblings. Results revealed that, in comparison to cont rol subjects, the proband adults reported that they had received lower grades in high school, required more remedial academic services throu ghout their school careers, and completed fewer years of formal educat ion. Occupationally, although the groups did not differ in employment status, the proband subjects tended to occupy jobs considered semiskil led or unskilled with a much greater frequency than both the control s ubjects and their gender-matched siblings. When asked to indicate gene ral satisfaction with educational and occupational outcomes, however, subjects in both groups tended to rate themselves as either ''very'' o r ''fairly'' satisfied.