{"id":1432,"date":"2026-08-30T22:52:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/?p=1432"},"modified":"2026-09-01T13:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T03:24:41","slug":"cvc2026-730","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/cvc2026-730\/","title":{"rendered":"CVC2026-730 \u2013 Towards consistent standards for assessing the severity of speech disorders in children: An analysis of diagnostic practices of Polish speech therapists"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cvc-hero alignfull\"><span class=\"cvc-chip\">Presentation \u2013 CVC2026-730<\/span><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Towards consistent standards for assessing the severity of speech disorders in children: An analysis of diagnostic practices of Polish speech therapists<\/h1>\n<div class=\"cvc-authors\">\n<p><strong>Zuzanna Kaszkur, <\/strong>Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Poland<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dominika Jakubiak,<\/strong> Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Poland<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"CVC2026-730 Towards consistent standards for assessing the severity of speech disorders in children:\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wo1coTVFosM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><strong>Background: <\/strong>Speech disorders are among the most frequently diagnosed developmental difficulties in preschool and early school-age children. Despite growing interest in assessing their severity, the literature still lacks uniform criteria for qualifying children for speech therapy. Differences between diagnostic approaches can lead to inequalities in access to therapeutic support.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aim: <\/strong>To present the current state of knowledge regarding the criteria for assessing the severity of speech disorders in children and the factors considered when deciding on eligibility for speech therapy. An additional goal is to identify research gaps that justify conducting research on the diagnostic practice of Polish speech therapists.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Method\/approach:<\/strong> A literature review was conducted, including publications on the assessment of speech disorder severity in children and eligibility for speech therapy. Empirical studies, reviews, and recommendations regarding speech therapy diagnosis were analysed, with particular emphasis on the criteria for assessing the severity of disorders, the functional impact of communication difficulties, and a biopsychosocial approach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results\/findings: <\/strong>The available literature indicates a lack of uniform criteria for assessing the severity of speech disorders and eligibility for speech therapy. In practice, a variety of indicators are used, including the number and type of articulation errors, the child\u2019s age, speech intelligibility, and the impact of difficulties on social and educational functioning. However, few studies describe the actual diagnostic practice of speech-language pathologists, and data from Poland are very limited.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion: <\/strong>The literature review indicates the need to develop more consistent, evidence-based criteria for assessing the severity of speech disorders and qualifying for therapy. This identified research gap formed the basis for a current survey of Polish speech-language pathologists; the survey aims to determine the criteria used in clinical practice in Poland and the extent to which a biopsychosocial approach is considered. The results of this study will enable comparison of Polish diagnostic practice with findings from the international literature.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for children and families: <\/strong>This will ensure equal access to speech therapy for every child, regardless of the school or facility they attend. With more consistent assessment criteria, children with similar difficulties will have a greater chance of receiving similar therapeutic support.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for practitioners:<\/strong> The research will identify criteria for assessing the severity of speech impairments and help standardise the process of qualifying children with similar difficulties for speech therapy. This is crucial in educational settings, where organisational constraints require prioritising access to therapy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Funding: <\/strong>The project was submitted under the ID-UB call no. 201 \u201cStudy@Research\u201d, application number 201\/34\/UAM\/0059. ID-UB (Initiative of Excellence \u2013 Research University) Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keywords<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> assessment of the severity of speech impediments, Polish speech therapy practice, kindergarden, school<\/p>\n<p><strong>This presentation relates to the following <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal13\"><strong>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"cvc-sdgs\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal4\">SDG 4: Quality Education<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal17\">SDG 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Zuzanna Kaszkur, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Poland; Dominika Jakubiak, Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, Poland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,1],"tags":[46,48],"class_list":["post-1432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-learning-and-activities","category-presentations","tag-sdg-04","tag-sdg-17"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1432"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1732,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1432\/revisions\/1732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}