Long‐Term Speech Outcomes in Moderate‐to‐Severe Childhood Speech Sound Disorder: A Systematic Review

What is already known about this subject Despite mounting evidence on the prognosis and history of mild-to-moderate speech and language disorder, longitudinal cohort studies of children with moderate-to-severe speech sound disorders are rare. This gap is notable given emerging data that severe speech sound disorders are more pervasive and pose greater risk to academic achievement and mental health. What this paper adds to existing knowledge There are no larger cohort studies with clear granular data from which to draw conclusions. Longitudinal case studies show reduced error frequency but persistent error type in children and adolescents with childhood apraxia of speech. There are no cohort studies addressing longitudinal data for other severe speech sound disorders, such as dysarthria or fluency disorders. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Longitudinal prospective data, with a pre-established goal to systematically evaluate speech outcomes over time in a severe speech cohort, are critically needed to identify accurate predictors of longer-term outcomes and inform treatment prioritisation for children with severe speech sound disorders.