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Concurrent task sequencing in single-phoneme phonologic treatment and generalization.
1Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Studies, California State University, Fresno, 5048 N. Jackson Ave. M/S LS80, Fresno, CA 93740-8022, USA. sskelton@csufresno.edu
Journal of Communication Disorders
|March 12, 2004
Summary
Concurrent Treatment, which mixes easy and hard speech tasks, rapidly improved /s/ sound acquisition in young children. This approach may be more beneficial than traditional easy-to-hard sequences for speech sound learning.
Area of Science:
- Speech-language pathology
- Childhood speech sound disorders
- Phonological intervention
Background:
- Traditional phonologic treatments progress from easy to hard tasks.
- The efficacy of this incremental approach for speech sound acquisition is widely accepted.
- Alternative task sequencing methods warrant investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of Concurrent Treatment for single-phoneme acquisition.
- To assess generalization and maintenance of speech sound learning with Concurrent Treatment.
- To compare Concurrent Treatment with traditional incremental task sequencing.
Main Methods:
- A multiple-baseline-across-subjects design was employed.
- Participants were 4- to 7-year-old children with /s/ misarticulations.
- Concurrent Treatment randomly intermixed presumed easy and hard teaching tasks.
Main Results:
- All participants achieved rapid /s/ phoneme acquisition.
- Generalization occurred from syllables to connected speech.
- Two participants demonstrated generalization to conversational speech in clinic and other settings.
Conclusions:
- An easy-to-hard task sequence may not be necessary for successful speech sound treatment.
- Concurrent Treatment appears beneficial for phoneme acquisition, generalization, and maintenance.
- Findings have implications for designing more effective speech therapy interventions.