'It depends': Characterizing speech and language therapy for preschool children with developmental speech and language disorders.
Lydia Morgan, Julie Marshall, Sam Harding and 4 others
PMID 31531914WHAT IT FOUND
Speech-language therapists described preschool therapy as nine aims: foundation skills, comprehension, expressive language, speech, self-monitoring, generalization, functional communication, adult understanding and adult-child interaction.
They chose and combined these flexibly for each child.
Key findings
01Therapists described therapy aims as nine themes grouped under addressing impairment, achieving functional skills and carryover, and supporting adults.
02In voting tasks, 92% of therapists rated adult understanding and empowerment as essential, and 92% rated adult-child interaction as essential.
03Therapists repeatedly said intervention was individualized, using 'it depends' and adjusting to child level, needs, parent engagement, resources and their role.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study describes therapists' views and practice patterns, not child outcomes, so it cannot show which therapy components work. The participants were not a representative sample of all speech-language therapists working with this population. The framework is high-level and does not specify dosage, method, delivery, critical components or acceptable variation. Some therapists did not say the original themes covered all aspects of their work, and the anonymous process made the reasons unclear. Therapists found it difficult to articulate tacit knowledge, so the details of activities and strategies may be incomplete.
Declared interests
No author conflicts of interest are stated in the supplied text. The only funding-related information supplied is the publication type 'Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't'.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this framework as evidence that any therapy component improves child speech or language. It reports therapists' views and priorities, not patient outcomes.