The clinical practice of speech and language therapists with preschool‐age children with syntactic impairment
Authors: Azevedo Mafalda , Lousada Marisa , Martins Alexandrina 
Published: February 2025

Background

Children with syntactic impairment associated with autism spectrum disorder and developmental language disorder benefit from speech and language therapy intervention. Despite that, few studies focus on the clinical practice of the speech and language therapist (SLT).

Aim

The aim of the study is to explore the clinical practice of SLTs with preschool‐age children with syntactic impairment.

Methods & Procedures

A cross‐sectional survey was carried out in Portugal, using a questionnaire designed specifically for this study. The survey is composed of 109 questions divided into eight sections. A total of 357 participants responded, representing 10% of the total population of SLTs in Portugal.

Outcomes & Results

Considering the academic background, 46% of SLTs held a master's degree and only 19% attended complementary training in syntax. Regarding professional experience, 92% of SLTs work with preschool‐age children with syntactic impairment. Between 89% and 91% of the SLTs report that they have never used any specific program, method or approach for syntactic intervention. Over 40% of SLTs report not feeling confident in assessing syntactic skills, while 43% report not feeling confident in intervening. Between 92% and 98% of SLTs report the need to obtain more academic knowledge and practical training.

Conclusions & Implications

In Portugal, there seems to be a lack of scientific evidence regarding the procedures used in the clinical practice of SLTs in preschool‐age children with syntactic impairment. This fact may relate to the need felt by SLTs for more academic and practical training. The current findings highlight the need to address training in syntactic disorder within graduate and postgraduate programs.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

What is already known on the subject

Children with autism spectrym disorder (ASD) and children with developmental language disorder (DLD) experience language disorders, which in turn may have an impact on their socialisation and behaviour, namely when they have syntactic impairment. It is proven that these children benefit from speech and language therapy. Several studies analyse the effectiveness of assessment and intervention procedures in speech and language therapy, defining evidence‐based best practices. Thus, there is a lot of research into how SLTs should conduct assessment and intervention. There is, however, little research about SLTs clinical practices.

What this paper adds to existing knowledge

This study paints a broad picture of the clinical practice of SLTs in Portugal, bringing insights specifically into their syntactic domain assessment and intervention practices with preschool‐age children. This study also serves to identify the perceived needs of SLTs regarding the syntactic domain, related to academia, complementary training and day‐to‐day practice in the assessment and intervention of these children.

What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?

There are some studies of the assessment and intervention clinical practices of SLTs as well as methods, programs and approaches for syntactic impairment clinical practice with preschool‐age children with ASD and children with DLD. However, most of the studies are for the English language. Through this study, it was understood that SLTs in Portugal have a low level of confidence in assessing and intervening with this population. SLTs have identified the need for additional training and theoretical knowledge which can contribute to the adaptation of current academic curricula and broaden the complementary training opportunities.