Diagnostic markers for child speech-sound disorders: introductory comments.

The four papers in this issue report findings from a research programme on the etiological origins of child speech-sound disorders of currently unknown origin. Overviews elsewhere describe an evolving classificatory framework that posits six putative subtypes within this general domain of communicative disorders (cf. Shriberg, 2002). The following introductory comments provide brief historical and clinical perspectives on the primary objective of this research: the availability of a suite of computer-assisted diagnostic markers that clinicians and clinical researchers can use to classify six etiological subtypes of child speech-sound disorders.