Exploring perception of coarticulatory cues in childhood apraxia of speech and residual speech sound disorders: A pilot study.
Molly Beiting, Navin Viswanathan, Nicole Caballero and 3 others
PMID 41129974WHAT IT FOUND
Children with childhood apraxia of speech struggled to hear the difference between sounds when the context changed, unlike children with only an 'r' error.
This suggests their perception of speech is impaired beyond just the sound they mispronounce.
Key findings
01Children with CAS showed weaker compensation for coarticulation compared to children with residual speech sound disorders.
02Children with CAS had significantly less accurate perception of speech endpoints compared to the other groups.
03Children with isolated /r/ errors performed similarly to typically developing children on both perception tasks.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This was a small pilot study with unequal group sizes, particularly the small number of typically developing children. The tasks were shortened to reduce participant burden, which may have made it harder to detect subtle differences. The study did not measure speech production directly, so it cannot prove a link between perception and motor planning. Children with CAS had lower phonological awareness scores than other groups, so it is unclear if the perception issues were due to CAS specifically or this related skill.
Declared interests
No specific conflicts of interest or funding sources were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these perception deficits cause the speech errors in CAS. The study was a pilot with small numbers and did not measure production, so it cannot prove a causal link between hearing and speaking difficulties.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →