Reliability of Speech-Language Pathologists' Categorizations of Preschoolers' Communication Impairments in Practice

Purpose An efficient and reliable way to categorize children's communication impairments based on routine clinical assessments is needed inform research decisions. This preliminary study assessed interrater reliability of speech-language pathologists' categorization preschoolers' speech, language, using a consensus document. Method Six pathologists at three community sites worked in pairs assess 38 children aged 1–5 years, then used the document broadly. Identified language speech sound were further subcategorized. Results Speech-language had substantial almost perfect agreement for broadly focused impairment categories. Agreement whether difficulties/disorders developmental or associated with biomedical condition was perfect, but moderate difficulties impacted receptive expressive social skills. fair rule-based delays/disorders, low motor-based mixed impairments. Conclusions support use collect data Additional work confirm some categories subcategorization