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Let’s Be Friends: Peer Perceptions of Disordered Speech in Preschool and Early School-Aged Children.

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Title: Let’s Be Friends: Peer Perceptions of Disordered Speech in Preschool and Early School-Aged Children.
Authors: Henry, Malachi1 mahhenry@iu.edu, Bent, Tessa1
Source: American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Jan2026, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p127-149. 23p.
Subject Terms: *Intellect, *Data analysis, *Sensory perception, *Speech-language pathology, *Audiometry, *Vocabulary, *Child behavior, Pearson correlation (Statistics), Research funding, Task performance, Affinity groups, Descriptive statistics, Chi-squared test, Social skills, Childhood friendships, Statistics, Judgment (Psychology), Data analysis software, Articulation disorders in children
Abstract: Purpose: Children attend to speech variation to inform a variety of linguistic and social judgments about a talker. Communication impairments, such as speech sound disorders (SSDs), can impact social judgments made by older typically developing (TD) children and adult listeners. However, less is known about young children’s perceptions of speakers with SSDs. Method: Four-, five-, and six-year-old TD children’s (n = 37) social judgments of TD talkers and talkers with SSDs were examined in two tasks: (a) a two alternative forced choice friendship selection task, in which listeners heard contrasting speaker types and selected a preferred friend, and (b) a scalar rating task, in which listeners rated talkers on five social dimensions: intelligence, niceness, friendliness, similarity to the listener, and likability. Social judgments were examined in relation to intelligibility and pronunciation edit distance, which were combined into a composite severity score. Results: Clear preferences for TD talkers were observed in both tasks with older children’s preferences being stronger than that of younger children. Severity scores also contributed significantly to models of both behavioral tasks. As severity increased, the likelihood of being selected as a friend and perceived social valence decreased. Conclusions: This study underscores the social impact of SSD by highlighting how both the presence and severity of SSDs influence children’s social judgments. Negative social judgments could have lasting impacts on interpersonal relationships, academics, and vocational success for children with SSDs. The interaction between disorder and other sources of variation that influence social judgments, such as accent and race, should be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: Let’s Be Friends: Peer Perceptions of Disordered Speech in Preschool and Early School-Aged Children.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Henry%2C+Malachi%22">Henry, Malachi</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> mahhenry@iu.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Bent%2C+Tessa%22">Bent, Tessa</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22American+Journal+of+Speech-Language+Pathology%22">American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology</searchLink>. Jan2026, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p127-149. 23p.
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  Data: Purpose: Children attend to speech variation to inform a variety of linguistic and social judgments about a talker. Communication impairments, such as speech sound disorders (SSDs), can impact social judgments made by older typically developing (TD) children and adult listeners. However, less is known about young children’s perceptions of speakers with SSDs. Method: Four-, five-, and six-year-old TD children’s (n = 37) social judgments of TD talkers and talkers with SSDs were examined in two tasks: (a) a two alternative forced choice friendship selection task, in which listeners heard contrasting speaker types and selected a preferred friend, and (b) a scalar rating task, in which listeners rated talkers on five social dimensions: intelligence, niceness, friendliness, similarity to the listener, and likability. Social judgments were examined in relation to intelligibility and pronunciation edit distance, which were combined into a composite severity score. Results: Clear preferences for TD talkers were observed in both tasks with older children’s preferences being stronger than that of younger children. Severity scores also contributed significantly to models of both behavioral tasks. As severity increased, the likelihood of being selected as a friend and perceived social valence decreased. Conclusions: This study underscores the social impact of SSD by highlighting how both the presence and severity of SSDs influence children’s social judgments. Negative social judgments could have lasting impacts on interpersonal relationships, academics, and vocational success for children with SSDs. The interaction between disorder and other sources of variation that influence social judgments, such as accent and race, should be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology is the property of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=190920655
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1044/2025_AJSLP-25-00093
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      – Code: chi
        Text: Chinese
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      – SubjectFull: Intellect
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Data analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Sensory perception
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      – SubjectFull: Speech-language pathology
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      – SubjectFull: Audiometry
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Vocabulary
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      – SubjectFull: Child behavior
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Pearson correlation (Statistics)
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      – SubjectFull: Research funding
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      – SubjectFull: Chi-squared test
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      – SubjectFull: Social skills
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      – SubjectFull: Childhood friendships
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      – SubjectFull: Statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Judgment (Psychology)
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      – SubjectFull: Data analysis software
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      – SubjectFull: Articulation disorders in children
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    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Let’s Be Friends: Peer Perceptions of Disordered Speech in Preschool and Early School-Aged Children.
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              Text: Jan2026
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              Y: 2026
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