Updates on Clinical Language Sampling Practices: A Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists Practicing in the United States.

Abstract

PURPOSE Language sample analysis (LSA) provides many benefits for assessing, identifying therapy goals, and monitoring the progress of children with language disorders. Despite these widely recognized advantages, previous surveys suggest the declining use of LSA by speech-language pathologists (SLPs). This study aimed to provide updates on clinical LSA use following the recent introduction of two new LSA protocols, namely, the Sampling Utterances and Grammatical Analysis Revised (SUGAR) protocol and the Computerized Language Analysis KIDEVAL program. METHOD Survey data from SLPs practicing in the United States (N = 337) were used to examine rates of LSA use, methods, and protocols. Factors predicting LSA use and reported facilitators and barriers were also examined. RESULTS Results indicated that 60% of SLPs used LSA in the past year. LSA skill level, training, and serving preschool or elementary school children predicted LSA use, whereas workplace, caseload, and years of experience were not significant predictors. Most SLPs reported using self-designed LSA protocols (62%), followed by Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (23%) and SUGAR (12%) protocols. SLPs who did not use LSA reported limited time (74%), limited resources (59%), and limited expertise (41%) as barriers and identified additional training on LSA computer programs (52%) and access to automatic speech recognition programs (49%) as facilitators to their adoption of LSA. CONCLUSIONS Reported rates of LSA use and methods were consistent with previous survey findings. This study's findings highlight the ongoing needs for more extensive preprofessional training in LSA.