Updates on Clinical Language Sampling Practices: A Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists Practicing in the United States

What is it about?

This study examined how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the United States use language sample analysis (LSA) to help children with language disorders. LSA involves analyzing samples of how children speak to assess their language skills, set therapy goals, and track progress over time. Despite its benefits, previous surveys suggested that fewer SLPs were using LSA lately. We wanted to see if introducing two new LSA methods—Sampling Analysis of Grammatical Utterances Revised (SUGAR) and Computerized Language Analysis (CLAN) KIDEVAL program—had affected how often SLPs used LSA. They surveyed 337 SLPs and found that 60% had used LSA in the past year. We discovered that SLPs who worked with preschool or elementary school children, had more LSA skills, and had previous LSA training were more likely to use it. Factors like where they worked, how many clients they had, and years of experience did not affect their use of LSA much. Most SLPs used their own LSA methods (62%), followed by the SALT (23%) and SUGAR (12%) protocols. Those who did not use LSA mentioned lack of time (74%), resources (59%), and expertise (41%) as barriers. They suggested that more training on LSA computer programs (52%) and better access to speech recognition programs (49%) could help them use LSA more.

Featured Image

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study showed that LSA use and methods had not changed much from previous surveys. It also highlighted the need for future speech-language pathologists to receive more training in LSA.