Residual Effects of Preschool Phonology Disorders in Grade School, Adolescence, and Adulthood

This study used a cross-sectional design to examine the performance of people with a history of a preschool phonology disorder on measures of phonology, reading, and spelling at preschool age (n=20), grade school age (n=23), adolescence (n=17), and adulthood (n=17). Results showed that at each age group, subjects with a history of a disorder performed more poorly than control subjects matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic status in all domains. Comparisons across each successive age group revealed a higher performance on measures from preschool to grade school age, and a smaller but steady improvement from grade school age to adolescence to adulthood. Subjects with a history of other language problems, in addition to the phonology disorder overall, performed more poorly than subjects with a history of a preschool phonology disorder alone on the reading and spelling measures. These findings suggest that remnants of a preschool phonology disorder are detectable past grade school age and into adulthood.

KEY WORDS: phonology, follow-up, adult, reading, adolescence

Submitted on April 9, 1991
Accepted on December 12, 1991

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