Speech delay in seven siblings with unusual sound preferences.

By the age of 8 years, children who are developing normally show almost adult speech skills. Children with serious phonological disorders, however, may exhibit significant differences in development well beyond the age of 8 years with little or no improvement in speech if therapy is not provided. This is a descriptive study of seven siblings, ranging in age from 6 to 14 years of age who had never attended school or received speech therapy until these ages. All of the children exhibited moderate to severe speech disorder with no evidence of predisposing genetic factors, hearing loss, physical abuse, or prenatal drug exposure. These cases, which would obviously be impossible to duplicate in a controlled study, provide strong support for the efficacy of speech therapy. Children with serious speech delays will not improve appreciably without direct intervention.