Identifying Children who Stutter or have other Difficulties in Speech Production in School Reception Classes

Speech proficiency of children and its impact on educational attainment and behavioural engagement need attention (Bercow, 2008; Department for Education UK, 2013). Early detection of potential speech difficulties has been linked to effective intervention. It is therefore important to identify those children at-risk of speech difficulties early so that intervention can take place which may improve educational attainment and future quality of life. This study used the Stuttering Severity Instrument- third edition (SSI-3) as a screening tool to separate fluent and dysfluent children. The main application of the SSI-3 is to categorize children into severity classes, however, in this paper; the SSI-3 was investigated as a screening tool. Clinic-like SSI-3 assessments were made with reception-class children (aged 4-6 years, n=730). Spontaneous monologues were recorded and analyzed. Children were then classified as either fluent or as at-risk of speech difficulties. The results of the identification of speech difficulties based on SSI-3 were compared with the teachers’ classifications of the children. Agreement with the teachers for the fluent children (i.e. the children classified as fluent by both parties) was high with a specificity of 96.7%. Agreement with teachers for the children who were classified as at-risk of speech difficulties was also high (sensitivity was 69.8%). It was concluded that the SSI-3 provides a reliable starting point to use as a measure for identifying children with speech difficulty.