After Dismissal: Examining the Language, Literacy, and Cognitive Skills of Children With Remediated Speech Sound Disorders

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Farquharson
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Academic Difficulties ◽  
The Public ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Language Literacy

Speech sound disorders are a complex and often persistent disorder in young children. For many children, therapy results in successful remediation of the errored productions as well as age-appropriate literacy and academic progress. However, for some children, while they may attain age-appropriate speech production skills, they later have academic difficulties. For SLPs in the public schools, these children present as challenging in terms of both continuing treatment as well as in terms of caseload management. What happens after dismissal? Have these children truly acquired adequate speech production skills? Do they have lingering language, literacy, and cognitive deficits? The purpose of this article is to describe the language, literacy, and cognitive features of a small group of children with remediated speech sound disorders compared to their typically developing peers.

scholarly journals Clinical Forum Prologue: Speech Sound Disorders in Schools: Who Qualifies?

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly L. Storkel
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Comprehensive Understanding ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Minimal Information

Purpose The purpose of this clinical forum is to provide guidance on which children with speech sound disorders should qualify for services in the public schools. The articles in the forum consider how to define impaired articulation (viewed more broadly as referring to articulation and phonology), adverse effects, and educational performance. Conclusion The take-home message across articles is that determining eligibility for speech-language services is complex, requiring a comprehensive understanding of a child's skills with speech sounds but also the impact of their speech errors on written language and social–emotional well-being. These decisions cannot be made quickly with minimal information. Speech-language pathologists may need to advocate for a realistic allotment of time to conduct a comprehensive assessment, including time to think about the results and implications of that assessment.

scholarly journals Mismatch Negativity responses to early-acquired sounds in children with speech sound disorders

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alycia Erin Cummings
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Phonological Representations

To examine whether children with speech sound disorders (SSD) have sparsely specified phonological representations, the present study recorded neural responses to early-acquired speech sounds in children with SSD and their typically developing controls (ages 4-6 years). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while children listened to speech syllables containing two early-acquired sounds: /b/ and /d/. While both the typically developing (TD) children and children with SSD demonstrated Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses, the responses of the TD children were significantly larger. The identification of the smaller MMN responses suggests that children with SSD may have less specified phonological representations, which may impact their ability to correctly produce speech sounds. In addition, when all of the children’s data were pooled together, the MMN responses were strongly correlated with measures of speech production. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the MMN reflects acoustic-phonetic processing, which appears to be less developed in children with SSD.

scholarly journals Diagnostic Accuracy of Traditional Measures of Phonological Ability for Bilingual Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Fabiano-Smith ◽  
Katherine Hoffman
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves ◽  
Phonological Disorders ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Good Diagnostic Accuracy

Purpose Bilingual children whose phonological skills are evaluated using measures designed for monolingual English speakers are at risk for misdiagnosis of speech sound disorders (De Lamo White & Jin, 2011). Method Forty-four children participated in this study: 15 typically developing monolingual English speakers, 7 monolingual English speakers with phonological disorders, 14 typically developing bilingual Spanish–English speakers, and 8 bilingual children with phonological disorders. Children's single-word speech productions were examined on Percentage Consonants Correct–Revised (Shriberg, Austin, Lewis, McSweeny, & Wilson, 1997a) and accuracy of early-, middle-, and late-developing sounds (Shriberg, 1993) in English. Consonant accuracy in English was compared between monolinguals and bilinguals with and without speech sound disorders. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic curves were used to observe diagnostic accuracy of the measures examined. Results Percentage Consonants Correct–Revised was found to be a good indicator of phonological ability in both monolingual and bilingual English-speaking children at the age of 5;0. No significant differences were found between language groups on any of the measures examined. Conclusions Our results suggest that traditional measures of phonological ability for monolinguals could provide good diagnostic accuracy for bilingual children at the age of 5;0 years. These findings are preliminary, and children younger than 5;0 years should be examined for risk of misdiagnosis.

Application of the Challenge Point Framework During Treatment of Speech Sound Disorders

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Tanya Matthews ◽  
Alexandra Barbeau-Morrison ◽  
Susan Rvachew
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Practice Parameters ◽  
Practice Performance ◽  
Transfer And Retention ◽  
Practice Trials ◽  
Functional Task

Purpose The purpose of this article is to provide trial-by-trial practice performance data in relation to learning (outcome probe data) as collected from 18 treatment sessions provided to children with severe speech sound disorders. The data illustrate the practice–learning paradox: Specific, perfect practice performance is not required for speech production learning. Method We detailed how nine student speech-language pathologists (SSLPs) implemented and modified the motor learning practice conditions to reach a proposed challenge point during speech practice. Eleven participants diagnosed with a severe speech sound disorder received high-intensity speech therapy 3 times per week for 6 weeks. SSLPs implemented treatment procedures with the goal of achieving at least 100 practice trials while manipulating practice parameters to maintain practice at the challenge point. Specifically, child performance was monitored for accuracy in five-trial increments, and practice parameters were changed to increase functional task difficulty when the child's performance was high (four or five correct responses) or to decrease functional task difficulty when the child's performance was low (fewer than four correct responses). The practice stimulus, type and amount of feedback, structure of practice, or level of support might be changed to ensure practice at the challenge point. Results On average, the children achieved 102 practice trials per session at a level of 58% correct responses. Fast achievement of connected speech with the lowest amount of support was associated with high scores on generalization probes. Even with high levels of error during practice, the children improved percent consonants correct with maintenance of learning 3 months posttreatment. Conclusion The results of this study show that it may not be necessary to overpractice or maintain a high degree of performance accuracy during treatment sessions to achieve transfer and retention of speech production learning.

Icelandic Children's Acquisition of Consonants and Consonant Clusters

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Thora Másdóttir ◽  
Sharynne McLeod ◽  
Kathryn Crowe
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Clinical Importance ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
Comprehensive Study

Purpose This study investigated Icelandic-speaking children's acquisition of singleton consonants and consonant clusters. Method Participants were 437 typically developing children aged 2;6–7;11 (years;months) acquiring Icelandic as their first language. Single-word speech samples of the 47 single consonants and 45 consonant clusters were collected using Málhljóðapróf ÞM (ÞM's Test of Speech Sound Disorders). Results Percentage of consonants correct for children aged 2;6–2;11 was 73.12 ( SD = 13.33) and increased to 98.55 ( SD = 3.24) for children aged 7;0–7;11. Overall, singleton consonants were more likely to be accurate than consonant clusters. The earliest consonants to be acquired were /m, n, p, t, j, h/ in word-initial position and /f, l/ within words. The last consonants to be acquired were /x, r, r̥, s, θ, n̥/, and consonant clusters in word-initial /sv-, stl-, str-, skr-, θr-/, within-word /-ðr-, -tl-/, and word-final /-kl̥, -xt/ contexts. Within-word phonemes were more often accurate than those in word-initial position, with word-final position the least accurate. Accuracy of production was significantly related to increasing age, but not sex. Conclusions This is the first comprehensive study of consonants and consonant cluster acquisition by typically developing Icelandic-speaking children. The findings align with trends for other Germanic languages; however, there are notable language-specific differences of clinical importance.

Variability in Interpreting “Educational Performance” for Children With Speech Sound Disorders

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 938-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Farquharson ◽  
Lisa Boldini
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Performance ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Performance Factors ◽  
State And Local

Purpose Speech sound disorders (SSDs) can have a negative impact on literacy development, social–emotional well-being, and participation across the life span. Despite this, many public schools do not provide appropriate or timely services to this population of children. In large part, this is a result of variation in how state and local agencies interpret “educational performance” as outlined within the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. The purpose of this study was to explore which educational performance factors speech-language pathologists (SLPs) consider when determining eligibility for children with SSDs. Method This study surveyed public school SLPs to investigate how educational performance is interpreted for children with SSDs. Data from 575 SLPs across the United States are included. Results Results supported variability in interpretation of educational performance within a nationwide sample of SLPs. Specifically, SLPs appear to consider educational performance as multidimensional. We also found within-state and between-states variability, indicating ambiguity in interpreting federal mandates. Finally, caseload size and number of years of experience were significantly related to which educational performance factors SLPs chose. Conclusion There is significant variability across the United States with respect to factors considered part of educational performance for children with SSD. This variability reflects the general quality and specificity of guidelines and/or special education code published by individual states. Clinical and legislative recommendations are included.

Entropy as a measure of mixedupness of realizations in child speech

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Babatsouli ◽  
David Ingram ◽  
Dimitrios A. Sotiropoulos
Keyword(s):  
Linear Dependence ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
The Other ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Child Speech ◽  
Mean Length Of Utterance ◽  
Children's Speech

AbstractTypical morpho-phonological measures of children’s speech realizations used in the literature depend linearly on their components. Examples are the proportion of consonants correct, the mean length of utterance and the phonological mean length of utterance. Because of their linear dependence on their components, these measures change in proportion to their component changes between speech realizations. However, there are instances in which variable speech realizations need to be differentiated better. Therefore, a measure which is more sensitive to its components than linear measures is needed. Here, entropy is proposed as such a measure. The sensitivity of entropy is compared analytically to that of linear measures, deriving ranges in component values inside which entropy is guaranteed to be more sensitive than the linear measures. The analysis is complemented by computing the entropy in two children’s English speech for different categories of word complexity and comparing its sensitivity to that of linear measures. One of the children is a bilingual typically developing child at age 3;0 and the other child is a monolingual child with speech sound disorders at age 5;11. The analysis and applications demonstrate the usefulness of the measure for evaluating speech realizations and its relative advantages over linear measures.

Comparing the Informativeness of Single-Word Samples and Connected Speech Samples in Assessing Speech Sound Disorders

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Li-Li Yeh ◽  
Chia-Chi Liu
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measures ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Sample Type ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Sample ◽  
Single Word ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Connected Speech ◽  
Speech Accuracy

Purpose Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are faced with the challenge of quickly and accurately identifying children who present with speech sound disorders (SSD) compared to typically developing (TD) children. The goal of this study was to compare the clinical relevance of two speech sampling methods (single-word vs. connected speech samples) in how sensitive they are in detecting atypical speech sound development in children, and to know whether the information obtained from single-word samples is representative enough of children's overall speech sound performance. Method We compared the speech sound performance of 37 preschool children with SSD ( M age = 4;11 years) and 37 age-sex-matched typically developing children ( M age = 5;0 years) by eliciting their speech in two ways: (a) a picture-naming task to elicit single words, and (b) a story-retelling task to elicit connected speech. Four speech measures were compared across sample type (single words vs. connected speech) and across groups (SSD vs. TD): intelligibility, speech accuracy, phonemic inventory, and phonological patterns. Results Interaction effects were found between sample type and group on several speech sound performance measures. Single-word speech samples were found to differentiate the SSD group from the TD group, and were more sensitive than connected speech samples across various measures. The effect size of single-word samples was consistently higher than connected speech samples for three measures: intelligibility, speech accuracy, and phonemic inventory. The gap in sample type informativeness may be attributed to salience and avoidance effects, given that children tend to avoid producing unfamiliar phonemes in connected speech. The number of phonological patterns produced was the only measure that revealed no gap between two sampling types for both groups. Conclusions On measures of intelligibility, speech accuracy, and phonemic inventory, obtaining a single-word sample proved to be a more informative method of differentiating children with SSD from TD children than connected speech samples. This finding may guide SLPs in their choice of sampling type when they are under time pressure. We discuss how children's performance on the connected speech sample may be biased by salience and avoidance effects and/or task design, and may, therefore, not necessarily reveal a poorer performance than single-word samples, particularly in intelligibility, speech accuracy, and the number of phonological patterns, if these task limitations are circumvented. Our findings show that the performance gap, typically observed between the two sampling types, largely depends on which performance measures are evaluated with the speech sample. Our study is the first to address sampling type differences in SSD versus TD children and has significant clinical implications for SLPs looking for sampling types and measures that reliably identify SSD in preschool-aged children.

Phonologically Disordered German-Speaking Children

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette V. Fox ◽  
Barbara Dodd
Keyword(s):  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Disorders ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Academic Difficulties ◽  
Error Patterns ◽  
Presenting Symptoms ◽  
Articulation Disorder ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Subgroup Classification

Speech sound disorders affect more children than any other developmental communication disorder and are associated with long-term social and academic difficulties. The diversity of presenting symptoms has resulted in the need for classifying subgroups of speech disorders. Research on English-speaking children suggests that there are four types of surface speech error patterns (B. Dodd, 1995): articulation disorder (e.g., lisp); delay (i.e., normal developmental patterns that are inappropriate for chronological age); consistent use of atypical error patterns (e.g., deletion of all initial consonants); and inconsistent pronunciation of the same lexical items. Classification typologies should be language independent. This study investigated whether the same four subgroups, in similar proportions, would be found in German-speaking children who had disordered speech. A total of 110 monolingual German-speaking children, aged 2 years 7 months to 7 years 7 months, participated in the study. They had been referred for assessment of a suspected speech disorder. The results supported the subgroup classification, providing evidence for the universal character of speech disorders. One significant difference was the relatively high proportion of children classified as having an articulation disorder. This was explained by the uncertainty regarding a lisp as a disorder in German, since it is also found in up to 40% of normally developing children of the same age. The theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

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