Fourteen-year follow-up of children with and without speech language impairments: Speech language stability and outcomes

This report concerns the speech and language outcomes of young adults (N = 242) who participated in a 14-year, prospective, longitudinal study of a co mmunity sample of children with (n = 114) and without (n = 128) speech and/ or language impairments. Participants were initially identified at age 5 an d subsequently followed at ages 12 and 19. Direct assessments were conducte d in multiple domains (communicative, cognitive, academic, behavioral, and psychiatric) at all three rime periods. Major Findings included (a) high ra tes of continued communication difficulties in those with a history of impa irment; (b) considerable stability in language performance over time; (c) b etter long-term outcomes for those with initial speech impairments than for those with language impairments; and (d) more Favorable prognoses for thos e with specific language impairments than For those with impairments second ary to sensory, structural, neurological, or cognitive deficits. These gene ral conclusions held when either a liberal or a more stringent criterion fo r language impairment was employed. Some of these findings are consistent w ith those from earlier Follow-up studies, which used less optimal methods. Thus, the present replication and extension of these findings with a sound methodology enables greater confidence in their use for prognostic, plannin g, and research purposes.