The impact of age on the treatment of late-acquired sounds in children with speech sound disorders.
Breanna I Krueger, Holly L Storkel
PMID 35801558WHAT IT FOUND
Children aged 4 to 5 improved their speech as much as children aged 7 to 8 when treated for late-acquired sounds like /r/ and /l/.
The younger children needed longer sessions, but the total number of visits was similar for both groups.
Key findings
01Both age groups showed significant improvement in speech accuracy for treated sounds, with only one younger child failing to maintain gains.
02The total number of treatment sessions required was similar for both groups, though younger children needed fewer sessions in the imitation phase and older children needed fewer in the spontaneous phase.
03Younger children required longer individual sessions than older children, likely due to less experience with therapy tasks and needing more redirection.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only eight participants, which limits the generalizability of the findings. The treatment was limited to liquid sounds (/r/ and /l/), so it is unclear if these results apply to other speech sounds. Most participants were receiving additional speech therapy at school, which may have influenced their response to the study treatment. The examiner was not blinded to the baseline conditions or target sounds. The study could not assess generalization to untreated sounds because the groups differed in their baseline error patterns.
Declared interests
The authors reported no relevant financial or nonfinancial disclosures or conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the longer session duration for younger children as a sign that they are less capable of learning. The total number of sessions required was similar for both groups, and the difference in session length likely reflects behavioral maturity and experience with therapy tasks rather than difficulty with the speech targets themselves.