COMMUNICATION ABILITIES OF JORDANIAN INDIVIDUALS WITH CEREBRAL PALSY ACCORDING TO TYPE, AGE, AND MENTAL ABILITIES

ABSTRACT Objectives: To identify the speech characteristics of various types of Jordanian cerebral palsied children and young adults, and to relate them to age, the associated dysarthria, and cognitive level. Methods: The medical records of 248 cerebral palsied children and young adults seen at the Royal Rehabilitation Center, between 1990 and 2005, were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. The type, oral motor abilities, Intelligence Quotient, and other disabilities were identified for each case. The speech and language assessment results were categorized into normal, moderate disability, or severe disability. Findings were analyzed with regression analysis and Pearson's correlation using SPSS 10. Results: No statistically significant differences were found in the speech characteristics between the four main types of cerebral palsy. However, strong correlations were found between speech proficiency and both oral-motor abilities and Intelligence Quotient level, and, to a lesser degree, with the age group. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that speech characteristics of Jordanian cerebral palsied cases are not different from those reported in the literature for other languages