Background: Phonological difficulties are prevalent in children with speech and/or language disorders and may hamper their later language outcomes and academic achievements. These children often form a significant proportion of speech and language therapists’ caseloads. There is a shortage of information on evidence-based interventions for improving phonological skills in children and adolescents with speech and language disorder. Aims: The aim of this systematic literature review and meta-analysis was to systematically examine the effects of different intervention approaches on speech production accuracy and phonological representation skills in children with speech and language disorders. Methods: A preregistered systematic review (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews ID: CRD42017076075) adhering to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines was completed. Seven electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, ERIC, PsychINFO, Cochrane Library, SCOPUS and Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts) were searched for studies related to oral language interventions with children with developmental speech and/or language disorder (mean age ranging from 3–18 years) published between January 2006 and August 2022. The included articles reported intervention studies with a group design in which speech production accuracy was the outcome measure. Studies were appraised using the Cochrane risk of bias tool, and individual effect sizes were calculated using standardised means differences when enough data was available. A meta-analysis was conducted obtaining the average standardised mean difference d. Heterogeneity, influence of possible moderator variables and publication bias were explored. Results: The 23 studies that met the inclusion criteria presented low-medium risk of bias. Nine effect sizes were obtained from seven of these studies that presented a pre-post-test with a control group design. Medium-high average effect sizes were found in phonological accuracy. Heterogeneity was found between individual effect sizes. Significant moderator variables and publication bias were not detected. Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis indicate positive effects on speech production accuracy. Based on this review, further improvements in the quality of reporting for intervention research are required in developing the evidence base for practice. What this paper adds: What is already known on the subject An increasing number of interventions is available for children and adolescents with developmental speech and/or language disorders. Previous reviews suggest relatively low levels of evidence of interventions having phonology as an outcome measure. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This review and meta-analysis summarise the intervention evidence from a substantial body of group design studies, indicating positive results from a range of interventions with phonological outcomes. It highlights the need to systematically implement and replicate different intervention procedures to understand factors that will maximise positive outcomes and to grow the evidence base for best practice. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this study? Tentative evidence is emerging for the effectiveness of various approaches in enhancing speech production accuracy skills of children and adolescents with developmental speech and/or language disorder.

Aim: Collaboration between speech and language therapists and parents to help children with language disorders has always been important. The majority of published work is from the perspective of the therapist and what they think and feel parents need to help their children. However, less is known about (1) the processes parents try to access and receive services; (2) how they perceive the journey; and (3) what they think about the service provided to their child. This paper describes an exploration of how parents experience identification and access of services for their children living with language disorders. Subjects and methods: Parents from ten countries, with a child who had received services for speech language disorder participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. Results: Two main themes were constructed: (1) Parental recognition of the need for services; and (2) difficulties accessing services. Parents detailed how they recognised that their children needed services and how they went about securing them. Parents recounted the process they undertook; from their initial concerns about their child’s development, the feelings this engendered, and how they tried to get support and treatment. Parents talked about the factors that made them decide they had to fight to gain access to services for their children. Conclusions: Across countries, parents encounter similar experiences. The major obstacles identified by parents lead to the perception of delay in obtaining access to services. Identifying the services that children required was the first hurdle, even before getting a referral to them.

The paper explores how Hungarian parents of children with a language disorder use emotional deixis to report their child’s condition. Demonstrative pronouns and the metaphorical meaning of space, particularly proximity, are observed in a corpus of six interviews. The questions raised are: a) What entities and relations are typically referenced by emotional deixis? b) What kinds of metaphorical meanings are conveyed by spatial closeness in the use of demonstrative pronouns? Results show that the parents use proximal emotional deixis differently from the usual pattern; instead of expressing their internal direct and positive experience, they employ them to report fundamentally negative experiences of the child’s condition, development, diagnosis or therapy, or other negative experiences. Such application of emotional deixis indicates an intense and vivid experience, namely mental and emotional proximity to negative experiences, which stems from the empathic parental role.

Purpose: Although researchers have explored parental perspectives on childhood speech and language disorders, this work has mostly been conducted in English-speaking countries. Little is known about parental experiences across countries. Participation in the COST Action IS1406 ‘Enhancing children's oral language skills across Europe and beyond’ provided an opportunity to conduct cross-cultural qualitative interviews. The aims were to explore how parents construe inclusion and/or exclusion of their child and how parents involve themselves in order to facilitate inclusion. Method: Parents from nine countries and with a child who had received services for speech-language disorder participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews. We used thematic analysis to analyze the data. Results: Two overarching themes were identified: ‘Language disabilities led to social exclusion’ and ‘Promoting pathways to social inclusion’. Two subthemes were identified Interpersonal relationships are important and Deliberate proactiveness as stepping stones for social inclusion. Conclusions: Across countries, parents report that their children's hidden disability causes misunderstandings that can lead to social exclusion and that they are important advocates for their children. It is important that the voices and experiences of parents of children with developmental disabilities are understood and acknowledged. Parents’ recommendations about how to support social inclusion need to be addressed at all levels of society.

Purpose: Although researchers have explored parental perspectives of childhood speech and language disorders, most studies have been conducted in English-speaking countries. Little is known about parental experiences across countries, where procedures of language screening and services for language disorders differ. The authors participated in the COST¹ Action network IS1406, “Enhancing Children’s Oral Language Skills Across Europe and Beyond,” which provided an opportunity to conduct cross-country qualitative interviews with parents. The aim of this pilot study was to explore ways in which parents construed and described speech and language disorders across countries. Method: Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with parents from 10 families in 10 different countries. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: The overall theme was “acknowledging parental expertise.” The parents described, in detail, ways in which their children’s speech and language (dis)abilities had an impact on the children’s everyday life. Three subthemes were identified: impairment, disability, and changes over time. Conclusions: The findings suggest that, across a range of countries, parents demonstrated contextualized understandings of their children’s speech and language (dis)abilities, along with the everyday functional implications of the disorders. Hence, despite not holding professional knowledge about language disorders, the voices, views, understandings, and personal experiences of parents in relation to their child’s disorder should be listened to when planning therapy services.

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In the Hungarian education system, dividing children into separate groups on the basis of native language skills was first initiated in 1580 by school rector, pedagogue and evangelical priest, Pál Halvepápius, in Besztercebánya (Rosenauer, 1876). However, the foundations of speech communication have been a major interest even before that. Jesuit priest Pelbárt Temesvári (b.1435–d.1504) explored the anatomy and physiology of speech impediments in the sixteenth century and the history of the subject has remained very active ever since (Albert Szenczi Molnár, b.1574–d.1634, see Szenczi Molnár, 1610/1969; Farkas Kempelen (also known as Wolfgang von Kempelen), b.1734–d.1804, see Kempelen; 1791/1989).

Purpose: The aim of this tutorial is to support speech language pathologists (SLPs) undertaking assessments of multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders, particularly children who speak languages that are not shared with their SLP. Method: The tutorial was written by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech, which comprises 46 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) who have worked in 43 countries and used 27 languages in professional practice. Seventeen panel members met for a 1-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the tutorial, 26 panel members contributed to writing this tutorial, and 34 members contributed to revising this tutorial online (some members contributed tomore than 1 task). Results: This tutorial draws on international research evidence and professional expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of working with multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders. This overview addresses referral, case history, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and goal setting and the SLP’s cultural competence and preparation for working with interpreters and multicultural support workers and dealing with organizational and government barriers to and facilitators of culturally competent practice. Conclusion: The issues raised in this tutorial are applied in a hypothetical case study of an English-speaking SLP’s assessment of a multilingual Cantonese-and English-speaking 4-year-old boy. Resources are listed throughout the tutorial.