This paper presents the results of communication skills assessments for two groups of
20 children who had four-limb cerebral palsy. Group 1 children were unintelligible
out of context, group 2 children were intelligible to their parents. The pragmatic
functions used by children in conversation with their mothers and during a
semi-structured communication skills assessment were compared. Children in group 1
produced more functions of communication in the scripted assessment than in
conversation with their mothers. No clear difference was observed for children whose
speech was intelligible without contextual cues. The implications for practice are discussed.
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