The early utterances of preterm infants.

This study examined the utterances of infants horn preterm in order to ascertain whether there were any differences in speech-sound production between healthy preterm infants and those who had suffered perinatal insult. Thirty-three infants whose corrected ages ranged from nine months to 22 months were assessed. Of these, 21 had suffered intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH); the remaining 12 acted as controls. the assessment measure was derived from the literature on early vocalisations through to two-word combinations. These assessments were administered by a speech therapist and a medical student. Results showed a high correlation with the results of a standardised test of expressive communication administered by a psychologist. Both groups of subjects showed delay in speech-sound acquisition but the IVH infants showed a more severe delay and wider range of performance than did the control group. These findings and their implications are discussed together with others relating to the most propitious situa...