Getting the Most Bang for Your Therapy Minute: Sound and Word Complexity in Treatment of Children with Phonological Disorders

Research shows that the complexity approach to phonological treatment has a stronger evidence-base than other treatment options yet implementation in clinical practice has been missing, most likely due to a lack of familiarity with this approach. This session provided a tutorial on the main sound (accuracy, implicational universals, developmental norms, stimulability, sonority sequencing principle for clusters) and word characteristics (frequency, density, age-of-acquisition, lexicality) that guide treatment planning in the complexity approach. Case studies were used to provide practice selecting sounds and words within a complexity approach for a variety of different cases. Practical issues in using this approach (i.e., how to actually teach complex sounds and words) along with clinical materials were shared to support greater implementation of this evidence-based approach in attendee’s clinical practice