SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE OF BRAIN-INJURED CHILDREN

The speech and language performance of three groups of brain-injured c hildren, a closed-head injured (CHI) group, children treated for poste rior Fossa tumour (PFT), and children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), was compared to a matched control group. The subjects were administered a battery of speech and language assessments includ ing general measures of motor speech abilities, and speaking and liste ning performance, as well as specific skills tests in the domains of c onfrontation naming and verbal fluency. Performance of the experimenta l groups was compared with that of a control group matched for age, se x and educational level. Results indicated that all areas of language competence assessed appeared to be compromised by the various types of brain injury. With the exception of two members of the PFT group, mot or speech skills appeared to be spared for all other experimental subj ects.