Using Evidence-Based Practice in the Transition to Telepractice: Case Study of a Complexity-Based Speech Sound Intervention.
Abby John, Irina Potapova, Alicia Escobedo and 3 others
PMID 39867874WHAT IT FOUND
Three children with speech sound disorders completed a six-week complexity-based intervention via telepractice.
All three increased their overall speech accuracy and accuracy on untreated sounds. This shows the method can be adapted for virtual delivery, but it does not prove telepractice is as effective as in-person therapy.
Key findings
01All three participants increased their overall percent consonants correct after six weeks of telepractice intervention.
02Participants also improved accuracy on monitored sounds they had not been directly taught, indicating generalization of learning.
03Caregivers helped set up the technology and environment, and clinicians adapted cues to be verbal and visual rather than tactile.
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 three children, so the results cannot be generalized to other patients. There was no control group or comparison to in-person therapy, so it is impossible to know if telepractice was as effective as face-to-face treatment. The intervention was adapted on the fly due to the sudden shift to telepractice during the pandemic, which may have affected fidelity. Caregiver perspectives were collected inconsistently, and a formal satisfaction survey was only added in a later iteration of the study. The study did not measure long-term outcomes, only immediate changes after six weeks.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that telepractice is as effective as in-person speech therapy based on this paper. There was no comparison group, and the study only describes what happened to three children. The improvements shown are not proof that the virtual delivery method caused them.