Turkish stimulability treatment program for children with speech sound disorders: a preliminary study

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Pediatric Audiology
• Linguistic Phonetics

Background:

• Speech sound disorder (SSD) affects children's communication and academic success.
• Limited evidence-based treatment programs exist for Turkish-speaking children with SSD.
• Stimulability-based approaches are effective for improving speech sound production.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a Turkish-language stimulability treatment program for Turkish consonants and vowels.
• To evaluate the preliminary effectiveness of this program for children with SSD.
• To gather initial data for a larger, evidence-based trial.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-two children with SSD were enrolled.
• The Turkish Articulation and Phonology Test (SST) and Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS) were used for assessment.
• Children received 12 sessions of the Turkish stimulability intervention, with pre- and post-treatment comparisons.

Main Results:

• Significant reduction in articulation errors (p < .0001).
• Statistically significant improvement in auditory discrimination scores (p < .05).
• Increased stimulability ratings post-intervention.

Conclusions:

• The Turkish stimulability treatment program shows positive preliminary effects for children with SSD.
• This study provides foundational data for a larger clinical trial.
• Findings support the development of culturally adapted, evidence-based interventions for Turkish SSD populations.