Objective: The improvement of children’s language and communication abilities plays a vital role in shaping cognitive functions. This study focuses on the assessment of language, attention, and memory skills in typical hearing children with and without speech sound disorders (SSD). Material and Methods: A total of 60 volunteer children aged between 6 and 9 years, both with and without SSD, were included. The diagnosis of SSD was determined using The Turkish Articulation and Phonology Test, language skills were assessed with the Test of Language Development-Primary: Fourth Edition (TOLD-P:4), memory skills with the Visual Auditory Digit Span (VADS) Test, and attention skills with the STROOP test. The language and cognitive test scores in children with and without SSD were compared using the Independent Samples t-test. The relationship between language and cognitive skills was examined using Pearson correlation analysis. The statistical significance level was determined as 0.05. Results: Significant differences were found between children with and without SSD in the TOLD-P:4 morpheme completion subtest (p=0.005), in the STROOP test 5th section (p=0.045), and the VADS visual-written subtest (p=0.002). Additionally, significant differences in STROOP and VADS scores were observed between children aged 7 and below based on literacy experience (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study emphasize that children with SSD not only experience difficulties in language skills but also in attention and memory domains. Therefore, it is important to adopt a holistic approach in the educational and therapeutic programs for these children.

Amaç: Çocukların dil ve iletişim becerilerinin gelişimi, bilişsel işlevleri etkileyen kritik bir faktördür. Bu çalışma, konuşma sesi bozukluğu (KSB) olan ve olmayan normal işiten çocuklarda dil, dikkat ve bellek becerilerinin değerlendirilmesini amaçlamaktadır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışmaya, 6-9 yaş aralığında, KSB tanısı olan ve olmayan toplam 60 gönüllü çocuk dâhil edilmiştir. KSB tanısı, Türkçe Artikülasyon ve Fonoloji Testi ile değerlendirilmiş; dil becerileri, Türkçe Okul Çağı Dil Gelişimi Testi (TODİL) ile bellek becerileri, Görsel İşitsel Sayı Dizisi (GİSD) Testi ve dikkat becerileri ise STROOP testi ile değerlendirilmiştir. KSB olan ve olmayan çocuklarda dil ve bilişsel test puanları Bağımsız Gruplarda t-testi ile karşılaştırılmıştır. Dil ve bilişsel beceriler arasındaki ilişki, Pearson korelasyon analizi kullanılarak incelenmiştir. İstatistiksel anlamlılık düzeyi 0,05 olarak belirlenmiştir. Bulgular: KSB olan ve olmayan çocuklar arasında; TODİL morfem tamamlama alt testi (p=0,005), STROOP testi 5. Bölüm (p=0,045) ve GİSD görsel-yazılı alt testi (p=0,002) sonuçlarında anlamlı farklılıklar saptanmıştır. Ayrıca, okuryazarlık deneyimine bağlı olarak 7 yaş ve altındaki çocuklar arasında STROOP ve GİSD puanlarında anlamlı farklılıklar gözlemlenmiştir (p<0,05). Sonuç: KSB olan çocukların yalnızca dil becerilerinde değil, aynı zamanda dikkat ve bellek alanlarında da zorluklar yaşadığı vurgulanmaktadır. Bu nedenle, bu çocuklara yönelik eğitim ve terapötik programlarda bütüncül bir yaklaşım benimsenmesi önemlidir.

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