SPEECH DEVELOPMENT IN A CHILD AFTER DECANNULATION - FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT BABBLING FACILITATES LATER SPEECH DEVELOPMENT

Selected children who receive long-term tracheostomies during the first year of life offer a possible means to study the relationship between babbling and later speech development. If babbling does not facilitate later speech development (the null hypothesis), then speech should not be delayed relative to other areas of development in the first weeks and months after the tracheostomy is removed. If babbling does facilitate later speech development (the alternative hypothesis), then speech should be delayed relative to other developmental domains. To better determine which of these hypotheses is correct, the authors of the present study investigated the speech outcome of a child, E, who was tracheostomized during and beyond the period during which babbling typically occurs. E's speech outcome was assessed at 6 weeks, 4 months, and 1 year after the tracheostomy was removed. Results of the investigation supported the alternative hypothesis.