QUALITY ASSURANCE STUDY

        Efficacy of Articulation Treatment in Children


Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment of articulation and phonological disorders in preschool and young school age children.


Method

Pre- and post-test scores were collected on all children seen at Cary Speech Services, Inc. for phonological and articulation disorders between 1990 and 1994. The two test that were given were the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation and the Assessment of Phonological Processes-Revised. Scores were compared only on children who had both pre-test and post-test information in their files. Children who had not completed the treatment program and been discharged from therapy were not included. This excluded children who had terminated treatment because of a move out of the area, transfer to another therapist, etc.


Population

The population consisted of children ranging in age from 2.0 to 8.0. The mean age on the pre-test population was 5.8 and the post-test population was 7.1. Twelve children were given the APP-R and of these, ten were also given the Goldman-Fristoe.


Results

The Goldman-Fristoe is a test that presents pictures as stimuli. There are 73 response items and the score is number of errors. On this test the mean number of errors prior to treatment was 32.2 After treatment, the mean number of errors was 2.9.

     Click HERE to view Goldman-Fristoe Results

The Assessment of Phonological Processes-Revised uses small toys as stimuli. A Phonological Deviancy Score is obtained based on responses that examine ten phonological processes, such as consonant sequence reduction, final consonant omission, and production of basic sound patterns like stridency, nasality, etc. Before treatment the mean score was 40.83, which is considered in the severe range for this population. After treatment, the mean score was 4.78. Treatment time averaged about 12 months.

     Click HERE to view Phonological Deviance Score Results