Relationship between target selection and speech adaptability

This retrospective study assesses the relationship between target selection and speech adaptability during speech intervention for children with speech sound disorder. Speech sound disorder occurs when a child uses incorrect sounds for his or her age. Speech-language pathologists use many assessments to identify speech sound difficulties; however, current practices may not provide optimal results to inform clinical decision making. Many clinicians use static assessments to judge skill levels and to determine targets for treatment; however, dynamic assessment may be more informative for understanding the child?s speech adaptability and for selecting targets. In the current study, the Dynamic Assessment of Phonology (GDAP) (Glaspey, 2012), was used to measure children?s ability to correctly produce sounds when given a systematic presentation of assistance. The participants included two three-year old girls with speech sound disorder. Both subjects were assessed using two measures: (1) GDAP to determine speech adaptability levels across error sounds, and (2) a probe of independent single-word production across speech sounds. Using these measures, the clinician selected target sounds based on prior clinical expertise and clinical judgment. The two measures were administered four times across treatment. The results will include an analysis of the GDAP and probe scores. Relationships between scores and targets will be presented and evaluation of adaptability levels will be considered. It is hypothesized that slightly adaptable targets will show greater progression during treatment. The results will better guide clinicians in choosing the most efficient targets for treatment of speech sound disorder in children