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Reduced Speaking Rate as an Early Predictor of Reading Disability

Jenny Roberts
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY

Susan Lambrecht Smith
University of Maine, Orono

John L. Locke
Lehman College, New York

Jane Bennett
University of Maine, Orono

Contact author: Allan B. Smith, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, 5724 Dunn Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5724. E-mail: allan.b.smith{at}umit.maine.edu

PURPOSE: This study evaluated whether developmental reading disability could be predicted in children at the age of 30 months, according to 3 measures of speech production: speaking rate, articulation rate, and the proportion of speaking time allocated to pausing.

METHOD: Speech samples of 18 children at high risk and 10 children at low risk for reading disability were recorded at 30 months of age. High risk was determined by history of reading disability in at least 1 of the child's parents. In grade school, a reading evaluation identified 9 children within the high-risk group as having reading disability and 9 children as not having reading disability. The 10 children at low risk for reading disability tested negative for reading disability.

RESULTS: Children with reading disability showed a significantly slower speaking rate than children at high risk without reading disability. Children with reading disability allocated significantly more time to pausing, as compared with the other groups. Articulation rate did not differ significantly across groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Speaking rate and the proportion of pausing time to speaking time may provide an early indication of reading outcome in children at high risk for reading disability.

Key Words: infants, toddlers, written comprehension disorders, articulation

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