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Aim To investigate if communication ability and method were related to each other and to age, sex, gross motor function, or manual ability in children with cerebral palsy. Method This cross‐sectional study used data registered in the Swedish Cerebral Palsy Surveillance Program registry, involving 3000 children aged 0 to 18 years. Pearson’s χ2 test and Spearman’s correlation were used to test associations between variables. Results Communication ability and method were related to each other and to age, gross motor function, and manual ability. Aided communication methods were more frequently used among older children. The more functional the communication was, the less use of unaided communication occurred. Different communication methods were used across all Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) levels. Speech was most common in more functional levels, used by 72% of the children. Forty‐five per cent were considered effective communicators in all environments. For classification of communication level and method, some recurring registration errors were made by the raters. Interpretation Some raters may need clarification on interpretations of CFCS instructions. Results indicate that children should be presented to aided augmentative and alternative communication and manual signs earlier and to a greater extent. What this paper adds Level of communicative ability varies depending on the primary method of communication used. Communicative ability and communication methods are related to age, and gross and fine motor ability. Different communication methods are found across all Communication Function Classification System levels.

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To develop interactional ability, conversation with both peers and adults is vital. However, for children with physical impairments, like cerebral palsy, interactions with adults often dominate. In this study, interaction between eight Swedish children with cerebral palsy, mean age 8.6 years, and their physiotherapists (PTs) and speech-language therapists (SLTs) was analysed during intervention across 16 dyads. The analysis of data focused on how quantitative, interactional and topical dominance was manifested by the PTs and the SLTs. In addition, mitigating strategies and use of feedback was investigated. Surprisingly, the only significant finding was in topic maintenance, where the PTs' conversations were more directed towards topics unrelated to the intervention context when compared to the conversations of the SLTs. Although not significant, the PTs tended to dominate by having a greater amount of talk, and the SLTs by asking many questions. It is discussed how the two professions may contribute to the development of interactional skills and pragmatic ability among children with cerebral palsy, given their professional training and focus of intervention.