Prevalence of articulatory disorders of different sounds in a group of Finnish first-graders.

Occurrence and type of articulatory speech disorders were studied in 157 7-year-old first-graders found to have articulatory disorders at school and referred for further treatment to the Department of Phoniatrics, University Central Hospital. The control group consisted of all 130 first-graders in two elementary schools in Kuopio. About one third of the control group had articulatory speech disorders, one fifth of them expressing need for speech therapy. In both groups distortions of the /s/-sound were the most common disorders, distortions of the /r/-sound being rather uncommon and those of the /l/-, /d/- and /t/-sounds very rare. Occurrence of articulatory speech disorders did not vary systematically with sex nor was it associated with handedness. Some spontaneous correction of /s/-disorders occurred, while /r/-disorders were rather resistant to early treatment. The results suggest the need for reevaluation of differential diagnostics and timing of speech therapy during kindergarten and elementary school.