Household size is associated with unintelligible speech in children who have intellectual disabilities : a South African study

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

Authors

Donohue, Dana K.
Bornman, Juan
Granlund, Mats

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Abstract

OBJECTIVE : The purpose of this study was to examine whether four socioeconomic factors, namely caregiver age, caregiver education, family income and/or household size were related to the presence of motor delays or unintelligible speech in South African children with intellectual disabilities. METHODS : Caregivers of children with intellectual disabilities completed a biographical questionnaire regarding their home environments. Other items on the questionnaire queried whether their children experienced co-occurring developmental impairments of motor delays or unintelligible speech. RESULTS : A total of 145 caregivers were included in the analyses. Two logistic regressions were run with the set of four socioeconomic factors as predictors, and motor delays and intelligible speech as the outcome variables. Household size was a statistically significant predictor of whether children evidenced intelligible speech. CONCLUSION : Children living in dwellings with more people were less likely to have intelligible speech. The processes through which large household size might influence children’s language are discussed.

Description

Keywords

Unintelligible speech, Household size, Intellectual disability, Motor delays, Risk factors, South Africa (SA)

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Donohue, D.K., Bornman, J. & Granlund, M. 2015, 'Household size is associated with unintelligible speech in children who have intellectual disabilities : a South African study', Developmental Neurorehabilitation, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 402-406.