Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a summary and evaluation of speech assessments used with children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A subsequent narrative review was completed to ascertain the core components of an evidence-based pediatric speech assessment, which, together with the results of the systematic review, provide clinical and research guidelines for best practice.
Method: A systematic search of eight databases was used to find peer-reviewed research articles published between 1990 and 2014 assessing the speech of children with ASD. Eligible articles were categorized according to the assessment methods used and the speech characteristics described.
Results: The review identified 21 articles that met the inclusion criteria, search criteria, and confidence in ASD diagnosis. The speech of prelinguistic participants was assessed in seven articles. Speech assessments with verbal participants were completed in 15 articles with segmental and suprasegmental aspects of speech analyzed. Assessment methods included connected speech samples, single-word naming tasks, speech imitation tasks, and analysis of the production of words and sentences.
Conclusions: Clinical and research guidelines for speech assessment of children with ASD are outlined. Future comparisons will be facilitated by the use of consistent reporting methods in research focusing on children with ASD.