Assessing stimulability in toddlers

Area of Science:

• Speech-Language Pathology
• Developmental Pediatrics
• Childhood Communication Disorders

Background:

• Assessing speech sound production in toddlers is crucial for early intervention.
• Traditional stimulability tasks may be challenging to implement with young children.
• A need exists for engaging and dynamic assessment tools for toddlers' speech development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and describe a novel, script-based stimulability task for toddlers.
• To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of this task in assessing speech sound production.
• To explore the clinical utility of stimulability testing in toddlers with and without speech-language delays.

Main Methods:

• A script-based play task was developed to elicit fricatives, affricates, and liquids.
• Three cueing levels were used to support sound production.
• The task was administered to toddlers with normal and delayed speech-language development, with reassessment at 6 months.

Main Results:

• The scripted task successfully assessed stimulability in toddlers.
• Toddlers responded well to direct elicitations within the play-based script.
• Both groups acquired stimulable sounds, with individual variations noted in sound acquisition and non-stimulable sounds.

Conclusions:

• Script-based stimulability testing is a viable and effective dynamic assessment tool for toddlers.
• This method provides valuable insights into a child's speech not captured by other measures.
• The findings support the use of this task for individualized speech-language intervention planning in toddlers.