November 28, 2025
Will my child with a speech delay have difficulties with academics later?
Last week, I attended the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) national conference. An exciting part of the conference is the poster session, where I had the opportunity to walk around and talk to clinicians who are presenting the latest research in our field. As I was wandering around Hall D at the DC convention center, there was a particular poster that caught my eye and warranted further investigation. The study was titled “Phonological Awareness Outcomes in Children with a History of Late Talking” by McCrae et al., 2024.
I was interested in learning more about this study that appeared to support my clinical experience with my clients.The children on my caseload with severe phonological processes, especially the presence of omissions like final consonant deletion (“ca-”/cat) and resulting low intelligibility, demonstrated difficulty with phonological tasks (segmenting, rhyming, blending). In addition to phonological difficulties, I also noticed a limited interest in identifying letters and their accompanying sounds as well as difficulty with counting.
One of the questions the study addressed was “Does the atypical or omission patterns found in a child at age 3 impact a child’s speech sound production and phonological awareness skills at age 5?” The results indicated that when a child has speech sound errors that involve a speech sound omission (initial consonant deletion – “-at”/cat, final consonant deletion – “ca-”/cat, cluster reduction – “s-ider”/spider) a child is at higher risk for phonological difficulties.
This study supports the use of phonological tasks alongside speech sound treatment when working with children who have speech sound omissions. I am excited to make this a focus of my treatment at Peek-a-Boo Speech!