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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]