ABSTRACT
In this study, 48 children with moderate or severe delays in phonological ability received treatment for four phonemes, selected in accordance with either traditional or nontraditional target-selection criteria. Children who received treatment for phonemes that are early developing and associated with greater productive phonological knowledge showed greater progress toward acquisition of the target sounds than did children who received treatment for late-developing phonemes that were associated with little or no productive phonological knowledge. Between-group differences in generalization learning were not observed. Child enjoyment of therapy did not differ between groups, but parental satisfaction with treatment progress was greater for children in the traditional group than for children in the nontraditional group.
Subject(s)
Articulation Disorders/therapy , Child Language , Verbal Learning , Articulation Disorders/diagnosis , Child, Preschool , Female , Generalization, Psychological , Humans , Male , Phonetics , Severity of Illness Index , Speech Therapy/methodsABSTRACT
Microcomputers can support phonological intervention in a variety of ways. Software and hardware can assist clinicians in identifying errors and establishing appropriate treatment targets. Technology can also help to determine the nature of errors so that optimal intervention methods are used. Specific technology tools for addressing phonological errors due to problems with articulation, phonemic identification, and phonetic mapping are discussed. The use of technology to document and analyze treatment performance is also addressed.
Subject(s)
Articulation Disorders/therapy , Educational Technology , Adolescent , Articulation Disorders/diagnosis , Humans , Male , Phonetics , Severity of Illness Index , Sound Spectrography/methods , Therapy, Computer-Assisted/methodsABSTRACT
Numerous studies have shown that otitis media (OM) during infancy has a negative impact on language development later in life. Few studies have examined the effect of OM on linguistic and prelinguistic behavior during infancy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of OM on the development of canonical babble in children who experienced at least one episode during the period birth through 6 months of age, in comparison with children who did not experience OM during this period. The results show a consistently lower rate of canonical syllable production among children with early onset OM, when compared to children with later onset OM, during the period 6 through 18 months of age. In addition, a relationship between canonical babbling ability and expressive vocabulary size was observed at 18 months of age.
Subject(s)
Language Development Disorders/diagnosis , Language Development Disorders/etiology , Otitis Media/complications , Speech Disorders/diagnosis , Speech Disorders/etiology , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Speech AcousticsABSTRACT
This study examined the role of speech perception training in the correction of phonological errors. Twenty-seven preschoolers with phonological impairment who misarticulated /integral of/ were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group 1 children listened to a variety of correctly and incorrectly produced versions of the word "shoe"; Group 2 children listened to the words "shoe" and "moo"; Group 3 children listened to the words "cat" and "Pete." A computer game was used to provide reinforcement for correct identification of the words. All children received the same traditional sound production training program for correction of their /integral of/ error, concurrently with speech perception training, during six weekly treatment sessions. On post-testing, Group 1 and 2 children demonstrated a superior ability to articulate the target sound in comparison to Group 3 children. The results are interpreted in relation to previous research on this topic.
Subject(s)
Articulation Disorders/therapy , Speech Perception , Verbal Learning , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Language Tests , Male , Phonetics , Speech Acoustics , Speech Production Measurement , Speech Therapy , Task Performance and AnalysisABSTRACT
The two studies presented here examine the relationship between speech perception and speech production errors in children who have a functional articulation disorder. In both experiments, speech perception was assessed with a word identification test, based upon a synthesized continuum of speech stimuli, contrasting the specific phonemes that were associated with production errors in our sample of articulation-disordered subjects. Experiment 1 required subjects to identify words that contrasted the phonemes /s/ and /S/. In this test, adults, normal speaking 5-year-olds, and some articulation-disordered 5-year-olds identified the words seat and sheet appropriately and reliably. However, a subgroup of articulation-disordered children were unable to identify the test stimuli appropriately. Experiment 2 required a second group of subjects to identify words that contrasted the phonemes /s/ and /theta/. Although both adults and normal speaking children responded appropriately to the words sick and thick, in this test, none of the articulation-disordered children was able to identify these words appropriately. It is concluded that, for a subgroup of children who have a functional articulation disorder, production errors may reflect speech perception errors.
