When the focus is on function—using sounds to contrast meaning—begin treatment at the word level. Consider these principles when choosing target words: Build the frame first. Children need to produce initial and final consonants and a variety of syllable shapes, including consonant clusters.
Full Answer
What are phonetic and phonological target selection options?
Method: Evidence related to selecting targets for treatment based on characteristics of the targets (i.e., developmental norms, implicational universals) and characteristics of children's knowledge of the targets (i.e., accuracy, stimulability) is reviewed. Free resources are provided to aid clinicians in assessing accuracy and stimulability of ...
How do late-acquired and marked targets affect phonology?
Jun 18, 2016 · 2. Choose socially important targets 3. Work on phonemes that are stimulable 4. Use minimal feature contrasts in treatment 5. Choose unfamiliar words as targets 6. Work on inconsistently erred sounds 7. Target sounds most destructive of intelligibility 8. Target non-developmental errors 9.
How does knowledge influence treatment for phonological disorders?
Choosing how to move through chosen targets also takes some consideration. Below are common, research-based treatment plans for articulation disorders. Vertical (Fey 1986): Work on 1-2 sounds until the child reaches mastery (usually 80% at the sentence level). Once mastered, new targets are chosen. Intense/focused practice.
What are articulation disorders and phonological disorders?
See the Speech Sound Disorders Evidence Map for summaries of the available research on this topic.. The scope of this page is speech sound disorders with no known cause—historically called articulation and phonological disorders—in preschool and school-age children (ages 3–21).. Information about speech sound problems related to motor/neurological disorders, structural …
How do you choose a speech sound target?
- Work in developmental sequence. ...
- Prioritise targets that are 'important' ...
- Choose targets that are stimulable. ...
- Use words that can be minimally contrasted. ...
- Choose unfamiliar words as therapy stimuli. ...
- Target sounds the child sometimes says correctly.
How do you target articulation?
What are the approaches for articulation therapy?
How do you differentiate between articulation disorders and phonological disorders?
How is articulation disorder treated?
What is phonological therapy?
Phonological treatment is used to improve sound-to-letter and letter-to-sound correspondence to improve agraphia (difficulty writing) due to aphasia. It targets written expression at the word-level by enhancing phonological processing skills.
How is phonological processing disorder treated?
What are the 4 types of articulation disorders?
What is a phonological process?
What impact does a phonological disorder have on phonological awareness skills?
Can phonological disorder be cured?
What does phonological awareness consist of?
What is the complexity approach in phonological treatment?
Taken together, the use of the complexity approach in phonological treatment has potential implications for caseload management. By targeting system-wide change via the complexity approach during a natural period of accelerated learning (i.e., preschool), there is greater potential to normalize speech sound development and transition children off caseloads before school entry. Within a complexity approach, targets are selected for treatment based on characteristics of the targets (e.g., developmental norms, implicational universals) and characteristics of children's knowledge of the targets (e.g., accuracy, stimulability).
When applying the complexity approach to phonological treatment of 3- to 7-year-old children with phonological disorders
Taken together, when applying the complexity approach to phonological treatment of 3- to 7-year-old children with phonological disorders, a clinician should prioritize selection of (a) late-acquired, (b) implicationally marked (see Table 1 ), (c) least-knowledge , and (d) nonstimulable targets to produce broad , system-wide change in phonology.
What is the sonority of consonants?
In this case, markedness relates to the sonority sequencing principle (see Gierut, 1999, for a review). Sonority refers to the resonance of a sound. According to the sonority sequencing principle, sonority rises in the onset of a syllable, peaks at the nucleus (typically a vowel), and then falls in the coda. This leads to the expectation that an onset cluster will have rising sonority. The sonority of consonants is ranked as follows from least to most sonorous: voiceless stops/affricates, voiced stops/affricates, voiceless fricatives, voiced fricatives, nasals, liquids, and glides. In addition, arbitrary numbers can be assigned to this sonority ranking so that the difference in sonority within a cluster can be calculated: voiceless stops/affricates (7), voiced stops/affricates (6), voiceless fricatives (5), voiced fricatives (4), nasals (3), liquids (2), and glides (1). Thus, for the cluster /br/ in “brake,” the sonority difference is 6 (/b/, voiced stop) minus 2 (/r/, liquid) equals +4. The positive sign indicates that the sonority is rising, as expected. Note that the terms “sonority difference” and “sonority distance” are synonymous and used interchangeably in the literature. Both larger sonority differences (e.g., /kw/ = 7 − 1 = +6) and smaller sonority differences (e.g., /sm/ = 5 − 3 = +2) are observed in English. A full list of English onset clusters by sonority difference is shown in Table 2. In terms of implicational universals, clusters with larger sonority differences (e.g., /kw/, +6) are considered less marked than clusters with smaller sonority differences (e.g., /sm/, +2).
What is singleton in phonology?
A singleton is a sound that occupies a syllable position in isolation (e. g., “bake” contain s two singleton consonants: /b/ in the syllable onset and /k/ in the syllable coda). Implicational universals describe patterns that are observed across the world's languages and across individual speakers learning a language. In the case of phonology, implicational universals describe patterns of co-occurrences of sounds ( Gierut, 2007 ). For example, one observation is that “if a language has fricatives, then it will also have stops.” This is based on the observed patterns that languages can have (a) neither stops nor fricatives, (b) stops only, or (c) stops and fricatives. However, a language with only fricatives and no stops has not been observed. In this case, the sound class that can occur alone (e.g., stops) is referred to as unmarked, whereas the sound class that cannot occur alone (e.g., fricatives) is referred to as marked. The unmarked sound is assumed to be less complex (both phonologically and motorically), and the marked sound is assumed to be more complex (both phonologically and motorically). Table 1 shows the marked and unmarked classes for singletons (and clusters).
What is evidence related to selecting targets for treatment based on characteristics of the targets?
Evidence related to selecting targets for treatment based on characteristics of the targets (i.e., developmental norms , implicational universals) and characteristics of children's knowledge of the targets (i.e., accuracy, stimulability) is reviewed. Free resources are provided to aid clinicians in assessing accuracy and stimulability of singletons and clusters. Use of treatment target selection and generalization prediction worksheets is illustrated with 3 preschool children.
What is the highest score possible for a target?
Finally, Row 14 sums the developmental norms (Row 6 or 7 depending on gender), implicational universals (Row 9), accuracy (Row 11), and stimulability (Row 13) scores. Thus, a target that is late acquired, marked based on a high number of relevant implicational universals, of low accuracy, and nonstimulable would receive a total score of 4, which is the highest score possible. These targets with a score of 4 represent the most complex targets that could be selected for treatment. In complement, a target that is early acquired, unmarked based on a low number of relevant implicational universals, of high accuracy, and N/A for stimulability (because stimulability was not tested because of high accuracy) would receive a total score of 0, which is the lowest score possible. These targets would not be selected for treatment based on the complexity approach. Targets receiving a total score of 1–3 obviously fall in the middle of these two extremes and potentially could be selected for treatment within the complexity approach because they are complex on some dimensions. Moreover, clinicians consider a range of factors ( Powell, 1991) when selecting targets for treatment (e.g., parent and child goals), and those factors would need to be integrated with the information about complexity. That is, there may be reasons beyond the complexity approach to select a target that has a score less than 4, and this would be an appropriate way to integrate complexity with other factors (e.g., needs of the child). Cases will be used to demonstrate the decision-making process, but there are two caveats related to clusters that warrant comment.
What are the barriers to complexity?
Even with an understanding of the tenets of the complexity approach, there are at least two likely barriers to implementation. A first potential barrier is that production accuracy and stimulability need to be obtained for each child, and this may or may not be a part of each clinician's standard assessment battery. A second likely barrier is the need to apply and integrate the four pieces of information corresponding to the tenets of the complexity approach: age-of-acquisition, implicational universals, production accuracy, and stimulability. This is a lot of information to keep track of for a potentially large number of targets, especially when singletons and clusters are both considered viable options for treatment. These tasks must be accomplished by a clinician in the context of a potentially large existing workload, where minimal protected time is available for comprehensive assessment and intervention planning.
Why is it important to work on inconsistently erred sounds?
The principle governing the selection of sounds that are sometimes pronounced correctly is that, because the child demonstrates some knowledge of an inconsistently erred target, it will be easier to learn and teach than a sound for which a child has less (or no) knowledge.
Why are non-stimulable sounds important?
Since the mid-1990s, sections of the research world have encouraged clinicians to target non-stimulable sounds because if a sound is stimulable, or if it becomes stimulable, it is likely to be added to a child’s inventory without direct treatment (Miccio, A23; Miccio, Elbert & Forrest, 1999). As sounds that are not stimulable have poorer short-term prognosis than those that are, treatment outcomes are likely to be enhanced when SLPs/SLTs use their unique skills to address the production of those non-stimulable sounds – to make them stimulable. Once the sounds are stimulable, in two-syllable positions (e.g., /f/ SIWI and SFWF in fie and off, respectively; or alternatively /f/ SIWI and SIWW in far and Sophie, respectively), they are likely to progress and become established in the child’s productive repertoire even if not targeted directly for treatment beyond that level.
What is the sonority of a vowel?
Sonority is the amount of ‘sound’ or ‘stricture’ in a consonant or vowel, represented numerically in a ‘sonority hierarchy’ devised by Steriade (1990). Steriade’s proposed hierarchy was from most to least sonorous: vowels (=0) were most sonorous, followed by glides (=1), liquids (=2), nasals (=3), voiced fricatives (=4), voiceless fricatives (=5), voiced stops (=6) and finally voiceless stops (=7), the least sonorous.
What are non-developmental patterns?
Flipsen Jr. and Parker reported that the non-developmental patterns include: initial consonant deletion; within word consonant deletion (SIWW and SFWW); deletion of unmarked elements of clusters; within word consonant replacement (SIWW and SFWW); errors of insertion and addition (e.g., schwa insertion or addition; vowel addition word finally) and intrusive consonants; backing of stops, fricatives, and affricates; dena- salisation; devoicing of stops; idiosyncratic systematic sound preferences; and glottal replacement, unless it is dialectal. Developmental patterns include final consonant deletion; reduplication; weak syllable deletion; cluster reduction; context-sensitive voicing; depalatalisation; fronting of fricatives, affricates, and velars; alveolarisation of stops and fricatives; labialisation of stops; stopping of fricatives and affricates; gliding of fricatives and liquids; deaffrication; epenthesis; metathesis; migration; and vocalisation.
How accurate is Alison's /s/?
Alison will produce /s/ in isolation with 90% accuracy.
What is the puzzle phenomenon?
The puzzle phenomenon occurs when a child consistently mispronounces sounds where they should occur, but uses them as substitutes where they should not! A ‘demonstration’ by Dane, father of Quentin, 6;1, exemplifies this.
Why use non proportional contrasts?
The rationale for using maximally opposed, non-proportional contrasts (Gierut, 1992) is that the heightened perceptual saliency of the contrasts so formed increases learnability, facilitating phonemic change. This is discussed under Maximal Oppositions and Empty Set in Chapter 4 with examples of treatment targets for Xing-Fu, 4;5, and Vaughan, 5;8, and elaborated by Baker (A13). A maximal opposition cuts across many featural dimensions. For example, by referring to the Table 2.5 and Table 8.2 we see that the contrast between /b/ and /s/ in the word pair bun-sun is in place (labial is distinct from coronal), manner (stop is distinct from fricative) and voice (/b/ is voiced and /s/ is voiceless). The contrast between /f/ and /n/ in fat-gnat is in place, manner, voice and major class (/f/ is an obstruent; /n/ is a sonorant).
Purpose
Clinicians working with children who have speech sound disorders that involve multiple errors often prioritize particular errored sounds for intervention. However, this prioritization is not always an easy or clearly defined clinical decision, as there are many target selection considerations to weigh, some of which directly oppose one another.
Conclusions
This clinical focus article provides an overview of a wide variety of pediatric target selection considerations (e.g., stimulability, complexity, frequency of occurrence, and interference with intelligibility) and offers clinicians theoretical and research-based rationales for each.
Conclusions
We have highlighted here several considerations SLPs make when deciding what phoneme targets to prioritize for children with SSDs. Importantly, those listed here are not exhaustive nor are they presented in ranked order.
Author Notes
Financial: Shari L. DeVeney has no relevant financial interests to disclose. Kathryn Cabbage has no relevant financial interests to disclose. Theresa Mourey has no relevant financial interests to disclose.
What is speech therapy?
Speech therapy, more specifically articulation therapy, is intervention provided by a speech-language pathologist to help a person produce the sounds of his/her language correctly. Everything from therapy techniques to goal writing to cueing techniques to home practice exercises is individualized and differs quite a bit depending on ...
What is auditory bombardment?
Auditory Bombardment: Auditory bombardment is a type of speech sound perception training. This involves exposing a child to the target sounds through multiple repetitions across varied contexts. Identification tasks: This is also a type of speech sound perception training.
Why do therapists use cues?
ALL therapists will use cues to elicit a correct production. CORRECT use of cueing is essential for a successful therapy program. The goal is to fade these techniques to increase independence and generalization. Below are common cues.
What is a free household therapy page?
Free household therapy page gives suggestions on how to target sounds using things found around the house.
What is a contrast therapy pair?
Contrast Therapy/Minimal Pairs Minimal pairs are 2 words that differ only by one sound or feature (i.e. , back vs rack).
What is complexity approach?
Complexity Approach (Gierut, 2007): This is a top-down approach. Start with a later developing sound. Progress generalizes to earlier developing sounds.
What is the first step in speech?
The syllable level is usually the first step since all other speech demands are taken away. For example, if you are practicing /b/, start with “ba” or “ab.”. Once the child can say the sound in syllables, move on to the word level.
What is the aim of articulation?
Articulation approaches target each sound deviation and are often selected by the clinician when the child's errors are assumed to be motor based; the aim is correct production of the target sound (s).
What is the treatment of speech that focuses on motor production?
Historically, treatments that focus on motor production of speech sounds are called articulation approaches; treatments that focus on the linguistic aspects of speech production are called phonological/language-based approaches.
What is speech sound disorder?
Speech sound disorders is an umbrella term referring to any difficulty or combination of difficulties with perception, motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and speech segments— including phonotactic rules governing permissible speech sound sequences in a language.
What are some examples of idiosyncratic errors?
For example, a child might substitute many sounds with a favorite or default sound, resulting in a considerable number of homonyms (e.g., shore, sore, chore, and tore might all be pronounced as door; Grunwell, 1987; Williams, 2003a).
What is functional speech?
Functional speech sound disorders include those related to the motor production of speech sounds and those related to the linguistic aspects of speech production. Historically, these disorders are referred to as articulation disorders and phonological disorders, respectively.
What is the purpose of a speech screening?
The purpose of the screening is to identify individuals who require further speech-language assessment and/or referral for other professional services.
What is the role of a speech pathologist?
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play a central role in the screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of persons with speech sound disorders. The professional roles and activities in speech-language pathology include clinical/educational services (diagnosis, assessment, planning, and treatment); prevention and advocacy; and education, administration, and research. See ASHA's Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology (ASHA, 2016b).
Which study found that selection of early developing targets associated with greater productive phonological knowledge resulted in more progress toward
6 They found that selection of early developing targets associated with greater productive phonological knowledge resulted in more progress toward the target sounds .
What is the difference between phonetic and phonemic perspectives?
The difference between the phonetic and phonemic perspectives is sound learning versus system shifting. That is, the traditional approach results in the child learning the target sound more easily because it is an earlier developing, stimulable sound. In contrast, the phonological approach should result in a system-wide change.
What are the parameters of maximal classification and distinction?
The parameters of maximal classification and distinction are based on selecting targets that have the greatest phonetic distance between the child’s error and the target, as well as the greatest phonetic distance across target sounds. Increasing the phonetic distance in these two ways increases both the saliency of the sound (s) to be learned, as well as the frame of learning that needs to be achieved by the child. That is, the child may need to learn more than a single aspect of sound production, such as manner, place, or voicing.
What is the Williams research focus?
Williams’ research focus is primarily with children with speech sound disorders, with corollaries of this research interest that address emergent literacy skills for children living in poverty, the impact of communication disabilities on children’s life activities, and social and cultural aspects of communication disorders in children.
What is the effect of target selection on learning?
The new approach hypothesizes that selection of certain target sounds has a cascade effect, and therefore would be more efficient. With these selections, the child learns not only the targeted sound or sound class but also other untrained aspects of their sound system.
What are the factors that influence the target selection of intervention 3?
Over time, clinicians have used a number of factors in target selection for intervention 3, including: Age of the child. Developmental level of the target sound. Effect on overall intelligibility.
Which approach addresses system-wide change?
As discussed earlier, the traditional approach focuses on the ease of learning the sound whereas the complexity approach addresses system-wide change. Traditional targets will be easier to learn, whereas the complexity approach will lead to greater change across the system.