Language delay and phonological disorders: a continuum or two distinct diseases?

PURPOSE: to study and verify that the phonological disorder is a continuum of language delay, i.e. if children with atypical phonological development previously had some delay in language development. METHODS: data were collected and organized into two groups: Group 1 was comprised of 10 children with language delay, who underwent speech therapy performed for stimulation and progressed after treatment, and were then transferred to the speech sector. Group 2 consisted of 554 subjects with signs of phonological disorder; they were diagnosed with such disorder after the evaluations. RESULTS: the findings of this study showed no significant association between gender and diagnosis, and the distribution between boys and girls was similar. In the analysis performed for age of onset of first words, no significant results were found. However, there was a significant result in the comparison between age of onset of first words and diagnosis, and the age of onset in the group with language delay was later than that of other diagnostic hypotheses. CONCLUSION: the results of this study support the literature, because phonological disorder refers to a change at the phonological level only, rather than a continuum of language delay.