Schedule Distribution and Motor Learning Guided Treatment with Childhood Apraxia of Speech

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of motor learning guided (MLG) treatment with different treatment schedules in the treatment of participants with a diagnosis of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Five participants, chronological ages 4;6 to 5;11 years, received MLG treatment for diagnosed CAS in two different treatment schedules, mass and distributed. The mass schedule consisted of four weekly 60-minute treatment sessions for a total of 240 minutes of intervention. The distributed schedule consisted of 16 15-minute treatment sessions provided four days a week for a total of 240 minutes of intervention. With the mass treatment schedule, participants demonstrated an increase in performance accuracy by an average of 9.1%. With the mass treatment schedule, participants demonstrated an increase in probe accuracy by an average of 5%. With the distributed treatment schedule, participants demonstrated an increase in performance accuracy by an average of 21.4%. With the distributed treatment schedule, participants demonstrated an increase in probe accuracy by an average of 17%. Both treatment schedules produced positive outcomes with the distributed treatment schedule resulting in the highest improvement in speech production accuracy. The results of this study suggest that children with CAS may benefit from shorter and more frequent intervention sessions to yield motor learning of speech skills and to increase accuracy of speech production performance.  M.S