A Language-Delayed Child at Adolescence

Abstract

There appears to be an almost complete lack of published data on the functioning of language-delayed children beyond the preschool and primary years. As a first step in filling this gap, a 16-year-old boy, first seen at age four because of his severe language difficulties, was reexamined. Measures of his speech and language, intelligence, reading achievement, and personal-social adjustment provided evidence of continuing deficits in the major language-related areas: speech and language, verbal intelligence, and reading. These deficits seem to have had adverse effects on his communication, educational achievement, and social adjustment. Questions suggested by the findings are presented.