Clinical management of childhood apraxia of speech: A survey of speech-language pathologists in Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose: A number of studies have been published that have investigated the practices of speech-language pathologists in relation to speech sound disorder intervention; however, specific research about the treatment of childhood apraxia of speech is not available. This study aimed to describe the treatment approaches being used by speech-language pathologists, explore their perspectives of evidence-based practice and identify perceived barriers to implementing empirical research recommendations.

Method: An online survey was distributed to speech-language pathologists in Australia and New Zealand. In total, 109 valid surveys were completed by participants who answered a series of multiple choice, yes/no, short answer and Likert-scaled questions.

Result: Speech-language pathologists demonstrated a strong preference for eclectic interventions to treat childhood apraxia of speech. When asked to identify the primary treatment approach they used (whether as a stand-alone; or as the primary approach within an eclectic intervention), the most frequently used intervention was the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme. Many speech-language pathologists reported valuing empirical research evidence, despite identifying a range of barriers that impact their ability to implement evidence-based practice in childhood apraxia of speech treatment.

Conclusion: Although many speech-language pathologists use the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme as their primary intervention, most clinicians use it as part of an eclectic/hybrid intervention. The effectiveness of eclectic interventions for childhood apraxia of speech has not been empirically evaluated.

Keywords:

• Childhood apraxia of speech
• dyspraxia
• survey
• intervention
• evidence-based practice

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the speech-language pathologists who completed the online questionnaire. They would also like to thank Speech Pathology Australia for distributing the questionnaire through their National eNews.

Declaration of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2019.1608301