Pairs of speech-language pathologists independently rated severity of phonological impairment for 45 preschoolers, aged 30 to 65 months. Children were rated along a continuum from normal to profound. In addition to judging overall severity of impairment, the clinicians provided separate ratings based on citation form and conversational samples. A judgment of intelligibility of conversational speech was also required. Results indicated that interclinician reliability was adequate (80% agreement) for older preschool-aged children (4-1/2 years and above) but that judgments by speechlanguage pathologists were not sufficiently reliable for children under 3-1/2 years of age 40% agreement). Children judged to have age appropriate phonological abilities were not clearly distinguishable from children judged to have a mild delay. Educating speech-language pathologists regarding the normative phonological data that are available with respect to young preschoolers, and ensuring that such data are readily accessible for assessment purposes, is required.
Static and Dynamic Modelling for the Recognition of Non-verbal Vocalisations in Conversational Speech
