DEVELOPMENTAL APRAXIA OF SPEECH .2. TOWARD A DIAGNOSTIC MARKER

This second paper in a series on developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) (Shriberg, Aram, & Kwiatkowski, 1997a) reports findings from two stud ies. Study I compares speech and prosody-voice profiles of a group of 14 children with suspected DAS to profiles of 73 children with speech delay (SD). Results suggest that the only linguistic domain that diffe rentiates some children with suspected DAS from those with SD is inapp ropriate stress. Study II cross-validates these findings, using retros pective data from a sample of 20 children with suspected DAS evaluated in a university phonology clinic over a 10-year period. Discussion co nsiders methodological and conceptual issues in the measurement of lin guistic stress. Theoretical issues and implications for research and c linical practice are deferred for synthesis of the present findings wi th those From a multi-site cross-validation project (Shriberg, Aram, & Kwiatkowski, 1997b).