TY - JOUR
T1 - Speech-language pathologist' practices regarding assessment, analysis, target selection, intervention, and service delivery for children with speech sound disorders
AU - McLeod, Sharynne
AU - Baker, Elise
N1 - Includes bibliographical references.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - A survey of 231 Australian speech-language pathologists (SLPs) was undertaken to describe practices regarding assessment, analysis, target selection, intervention and service delivery for children with speech sound disorders (SSD). The participants typically worked in private practice, education, or community health settings and 67.6% had a waiting list for services. For each child, most SLPs spent 10-40 minutes in pre-assessment activities, 30-60 minutes undertaking face-to-face assessments and 30-60 minutes completing paperwork after assessments. During an assessment SLPs typically conducted a parent interview, single word speech sampling, collected a connected speech sample, and used informal tests. They also determined children's stimulability and estimated intelligibility. With multilingual children, informal assessment procedures and English-only tests were commonly used and SLPs relied on family members or interpreters to assist. Common analysis techniques included determination of phonological processes, substitutions-omissions-distortions-additions (SODA), and phonetic inventory. Participants placed high priority on selecting target sounds that were stimulable, early developing, and in error across all word positions and 60.3% felt very confident or confident selecting an appropriate intervention approach. Eight intervention approaches were frequently used: auditory discrimination, minimal pairs, cued articulation, phonological awareness, traditional articulation therapy, auditory bombardment, Nuffield Centre Dyspraxia Programme, and core vocabulary. Children typically received individual therapy with an SLP in a clinic setting. Parents often observed and participated in sessions and SLPs typically included siblings and grandparents in intervention sessions. Parent training and home programs were more frequently used than group therapy. Two-thirds kept up-to-date by reading journal articles monthly or every 6 months. There were many similarities with previously reported practices for children with SSD in the US, UK, and the Netherlands, with some (but not all) practices aligning with current research evidence.
AB - A survey of 231 Australian speech-language pathologists (SLPs) was undertaken to describe practices regarding assessment, analysis, target selection, intervention and service delivery for children with speech sound disorders (SSD). The participants typically worked in private practice, education, or community health settings and 67.6% had a waiting list for services. For each child, most SLPs spent 10-40 minutes in pre-assessment activities, 30-60 minutes undertaking face-to-face assessments and 30-60 minutes completing paperwork after assessments. During an assessment SLPs typically conducted a parent interview, single word speech sampling, collected a connected speech sample, and used informal tests. They also determined children's stimulability and estimated intelligibility. With multilingual children, informal assessment procedures and English-only tests were commonly used and SLPs relied on family members or interpreters to assist. Common analysis techniques included determination of phonological processes, substitutions-omissions-distortions-additions (SODA), and phonetic inventory. Participants placed high priority on selecting target sounds that were stimulable, early developing, and in error across all word positions and 60.3% felt very confident or confident selecting an appropriate intervention approach. Eight intervention approaches were frequently used: auditory discrimination, minimal pairs, cued articulation, phonological awareness, traditional articulation therapy, auditory bombardment, Nuffield Centre Dyspraxia Programme, and core vocabulary. Children typically received individual therapy with an SLP in a clinic setting. Parents often observed and participated in sessions and SLPs typically included siblings and grandparents in intervention sessions. Parent training and home programs were more frequently used than group therapy. Two-thirds kept up-to-date by reading journal articles monthly or every 6 months. There were many similarities with previously reported practices for children with SSD in the US, UK, and the Netherlands, with some (but not all) practices aligning with current research evidence.
KW - Assessment
KW - Children
KW - Communication
KW - Early childhood
KW - Education
KW - Intervention
KW - Language
KW - Speech
KW - Speech sound disorder
KW - Speech-language pathology
U2 - 10.3109/02699206.2014.926994
DO - 10.3109/02699206.2014.926994
M3 - Article
C2 - 25000375
SN - 0269-9206
VL - 28
SP - 508
EP - 531
JO - Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics
JF - Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics
IS - 7-8
ER -