Word-final complexity in speech sound intervention: two case studies.
Irina Potapova, Philip Combiths, Sonja Pruitt-Lord and 1 others
PMID 36121007WHAT IT FOUND
Two children with speech sound disorder learned a word-final [-ks] target during speech sound intervention.
The child whose target was a third-person singular verb showed gains on untreated sounds and higher intelligibility; the other child improved intelligibility but not accuracy on untreated sounds.
Key findings
01Both children learned the word-final [-ks] target during intervention, with Anna reaching 100% accuracy in sessions 15 and 16 and David reaching 94% in session 18.
02David showed gains in untreated sounds and intelligibility, with monitored consonant singletons rising from 10% at Pre and Post to 17% at Follow-up 1 and 21% at Follow-up 2, and intelligible utterances rising from 51.2% to 70.3% immediately after intervention.
03Anna did not improve on monitored untreated word-final sounds, but she produced [-ks] in five probe words and intelligible utterances rose from 34.0% to 62.0% immediately after intervention.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
This was only two case studies, so it cannot show what happens for most children with speech sound disorder. The two children differed in age, starting speech sound knowledge, and whether their target included third-person singular endings, so the reason for different outcomes cannot be separated. Both children were monolingual English speakers, so findings may not apply to children speaking other languages. The two cases were selected from six children who completed a larger trial before the pandemic. Anna's accuracy on monitored untreated word-final sounds remained 0%, so target learning did not automatically produce broader phonological change. Many potentially relevant factors were not controlled.
Declared interests
The cases were selected from a larger NIH-funded clinical trial. Author conflict-of-interest information is not provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that word-final [-ks] alone is an effective treatment for speech sound disorder. The children also received one-on-one speech sound intervention with imitation and spontaneous phases, drill-play, and clinician feedback, and Anna's accuracy on monitored untreated word-final sounds remained 0% after intervention.