Evaluation of a combined treatment approach for childhood apraxia of speech

Abstract

The current study investigated the impact of a dual treatment approach that included stimulability training protocol (STP) paired with a modified core vocabulary treatment (mCVT) on the speech sounds produced by children with CAS. The combined treatment was assessed for changes in consistency and expansion of the phonetic inventories of four participants. The children participated in 20 treatment sessions over the course of 10 weeks. Each session was comprised of 10 minutes of stimulability training and 45 minutes of mCVT that included words that were chosen by the child and his or her parents. The words were restricted to contain at least one complex phoneme that was omitted from the child's inventory. All children evidenced inventory expansion (average of five sounds) and increased percentage consonants correct (PCC; average of 20% increase), and three of the four children evidenced increased consistency in sound use. The effectiveness of STP paired with mCVT is explained by principles of motor and phonological learning.

Keywords:

• childhood apraxia of speech
• treatment
• evaluation

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health grant DC-04575 awarded to the second author.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Notes

1. Participant 2 underwent two phases of the current combined treatment. No inventory nor consistency changes were noted after phase one; therefore, her data represent changes associated with the second round of intervention. Average data, however, include both her first and second phases of treatment.

2. Artwork for Miccio's stimulability therapy character cards has been archived and is available for download at www.speech-language-therapy.com/awm.pdf (Bowen, 1998).