scholarly journals A comparison of phonological error patterns in the single word and spontaneous speech of children with speech sound disorders

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
kayeon Park ◽  
Soo-Jin Kim
Author(s):  
Li-Li Yeh ◽  
Chia-Chi Liu

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.


2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette V. Fox ◽  
Barbara Dodd

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-468
Author(s):  
Kelly Farquharson ◽  
Sherine R. Tambyraja ◽  
Laura M. Justice

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which child- and therapy-level factors contribute to gains in speech sound production accuracy for children with speech sound disorders in receipt of school-based services. Method Data were obtained from 126 kindergarten and first- and second-grade children currently in receipt of speech therapy services in their public school setting. Pretest and posttest measures of spontaneous speech production and language ability were collected at the beginning and end of one academic year. Using a spontaneous speech sample, percentage of consonants correct (PCC) was calculated for each child; a gain score was computed by subtracting the pretest PCC score from the posttest PCC score. The children's speech-language pathologist completed weekly therapy logs during business-as-usual therapy, indicating the frequency, duration, and group composition of services throughout the school year. Results Results supported that gain in PCC from pretest to posttest was predicted by several child- and therapy-level variables. Children's initial speech sound severity was negatively related to gains in PCC. Our results also supported that the total number of therapy sessions received in a year was positively predictive of PCC gain. Interestingly, the number of individual therapy sessions was negatively associated with PCC gain. Conclusion Several malleable therapy factors contribute to gains in speech sound accuracy for children with speech sound disorders. Speech-language pathologists should consider how these factors may be manipulated to best tailor treatment to the individual needs of the children on their caseloads.


2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan L. Preston ◽  
Margaret Hull ◽  
Mary Louise Edwards

Purpose To determine if speech error patterns in preschoolers with speech sound disorders (SSDs) predict articulation and phonological awareness (PA) outcomes almost 4 years later. Method Twenty-five children with histories of preschool SSDs (and normal receptive language) were tested at an average age of 4;6 (years;months) and were followed up at age 8;3. The frequency of occurrence of preschool distortion errors, typical substitution and syllable structure errors, and atypical substitution and syllable structure errors was used to predict later speech sound production, PA, and literacy outcomes. Results Group averages revealed below-average school-age articulation scores and low-average PA but age-appropriate reading and spelling. Preschool speech error patterns were related to school-age outcomes. Children for whom >10% of their speech sound errors were atypical had lower PA and literacy scores at school age than children who produced <10% atypical errors. Preschoolers who produced more distortion errors were likely to have lower school-age articulation scores than preschoolers who produced fewer distortion errors. Conclusion Different preschool speech error patterns predict different school-age clinical outcomes. Many atypical speech sound errors in preschoolers may be indicative of weak phonological representations, leading to long-term PA weaknesses. Preschoolers' distortions may be resistant to change over time, leading to persisting speech sound production problems.


1986 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann B. Smit

Published investigations of normative ages of speech sound acquisition vary in the kind of speech sample on which they are based and in the methods used. Review of norms based on elicited single-word responses shows that the methods used can influence the resulting ages of acquisition for specific speech sounds. Review of the investigations which sample children's spontaneous speech indicates that these data have characteristics that make them difficult to use as norms. Desirable characteristics of normative investigations of speech sound acquisition are proposed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-616
Author(s):  
Kenn Apel ◽  
Victoria S. Henbest

Purpose Morphological awareness is the ability to consciously manipulate the smallest units of meaning in language. Morphological awareness contributes to success with literacy skills for children with typical language and those with language impairment. However, little research has focused on the morphological awareness skills of children with speech sound disorders (SSD), who may be at risk for literacy impairments. No researcher has examined the morphological awareness skills of children with SSD and compared their skills to children with typical speech using tasks representing a comprehensive definition of morphological awareness, which was the main purpose of this study. Method Thirty second- and third-grade students with SSD and 30 with typical speech skills, matched on age and receptive vocabulary, completed four morphological awareness tasks and measures of receptive vocabulary, real-word reading, pseudoword reading, and word-level spelling. Results Results indicated there was no difference between the morphological awareness skills of students with and without SSD. Although morphological awareness was moderately to strongly related to the students' literacy skills, performance on the morphological awareness tasks contributed little to no additional variance to the children's real-word reading and spelling skills beyond what was accounted for by pseudoword reading. Conclusions Findings suggest that early elementary-age students with SSD may not present with concomitant morphological awareness difficulties and that the morphological awareness skills of these students may not play a unique role in their word-level literacy skills. Limitations and suggestions for future research on the morphological awareness skills of children with SSD are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1987-1996
Author(s):  
Sherine R. Tambyraja

Purpose This study investigated the extent to which speech-language pathologists (SLPs) facilitate parents' completion of homework activities for children with speech sound disorder (SSD). In addition, this study explored factors related to more consistent communication about homework completion and strategies considered particularly effective for supporting this element of parental involvement. Method Licensed SLPs serving at least one child with SSD were invited to participate in an online survey. Questions relevant to this study gathered information regarding (a) frequency of communication about homework distribution and follow-up, (b) demographic and workplace characteristics, and (c) an open-ended question about the specific strategies used to support parental involvement and completion of homework activities. Results Descriptive results indicated considerable variability with respect to how frequently SLPs engaged in communication about homework completion, but that school-based SLPs were significantly less likely to engage in this type of follow-up. Strategies considered effective, however, were similar across therapy contexts. Conclusion These results suggest potentially important differences between school-based services and therapy in other contexts with respect to this particular aspect of service provision for children with SSD.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document