Effects of treatment for sound errors in apraxia of speech and aphasia

This investigation was designed to examine the acquisition, generalization, and maintenance effects of a treatment for sound errors in speakers with co-occurring apraxia of speech and aphasia. Three speakers with chronic apraxia of speech and aphasia were studied in the context of a multiple baseline design across speakers and behaviors. Treatment combined the use of minimal contrast pairs with traditional sound production training techniques such as integral stimulation and articulatory placement cueing and was applied sequentially to sounds that were determined to be consistently in error before training. Results revealed increased correct sound productions for all speakers in trained and untrained words. Response generalization effects across sounds and stimulus generalization effects varied, but appeared to be limited for most speakers. Although positive maintenance effects were evidenced, some loss of treatment gains was noted following cessation of treatment.