A 28-Year Follow-Up of Adults With a History of Moderate Phonological Disorder

Abstract

The present investigation is a follow-up to a longitudinal study involving approximately 400 normally developing children begun in 1960. From this large database, two groups of subjects (now aged 32–34) were asked to participate in the present project: (a) a group of 24 adults with a documented history of a moderate phonological/language disorder that persisted through at least the end of first grade (probands), and (b) a group of 28 adults from the same birth cohort and schools who were known to have had at least average articulation skills over the same period (controls). As part of a larger project, these adults were interviewed about their educational and occupational accomplishments and those of their siblings. Results revealed that, in comparison to control subjects, the proband adults reported that they had received lower grades in high school, required more remedial academic services throughout their school careers, and completed fewer years of formal education. Occupationally, although the groups did not differ in employment status, the proband subjects tended to occupy jobs considered semiskilled or unskilled with a much greater frequency than both the control subjects and their gender-matched siblings. When asked to indicate general satisfaction with educational and occupational outcomes, however, subjects in both groups tended to rate themselves as either “very” or “fairly” satisfied.