Long-term speech and language disorders subsequent to closed head injury in children

Abstract

The speech and language functioning of a group of 20 children (aged 8-16) who had sustained a closed head injury at least 12 months previously were assessed with the purpose of developing a comprehensive profile of the type and severity of the long-term speech/language disorders exhibited by this group. The subjects were administered a battery of speech/language assessments including an articulation/phonological assessment; oromotor assessment; overall language test and specific language skills assessments. Performance of the head-injured group was compared to that of a group of non-neurologically impaired accident victims matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status. Overall language performance scores of the head-injured group were found to be significantly lower than achieved by the control group.