Purpose: Reporting of outcome and experience measures is critical to our understanding of the effect of intervention for speech sound disorders (SSD) in children. There is currently no agreed-upon set of measures for reporting intervention outcomes and experiences. In this article, we introduce the Speech Outcome Reporting Taxonomy (SORT), a tool…

Clinical Question: In speech intervention via telepractice for preschool and school-age children with speech sound disorders (SSD), is treatment intensity similar to or different from that of traditional in-person therapy for optimal treatment results? Method: Systematic Review. Study Sources: PubMed, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC),…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify predictors of treatment outcomes in Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment (ReST) for childhood apraxia of speech through an individual participant data meta-analysis. Method: A systematic literature search identified nine ReST studies for inclusion. Individual participant data were obtained, and…

Background & aims: Echolalia, the repetition of one's or others' utterances, is a behavior present in typical development, autism spectrum disorder, aphasias, Tourette's, and other clinical groups. Despite the broad range of conditions in which echolalia can occur, it is considered primarily through a disorder-specific lens, which limits a…

Background: Acquired brain injury (ABI), such as Parkinson's disease, dementia or stroke, can result in communication difficulties that lead to an impoverished ability to connect meaningfully with others. Choral singing is a complex task that uses multiple brain regions which are also responsible for language and communication skills. The…

Clinical Question: Would a school-age child with speech sound disorder (SSD) benefit more from individual drill therapy (Quick Articulation!) or traditional school-based group therapy as measured by improved speech accuracy? Method: Systematic Review. Study Sources: ASHAWire, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. Search Terms: speech sound disorder…

Background: There is no consensus in the UK regarding the types of speech samples or parameters of speech that should be assessed at 3 years of age in children with cleft palate ± cleft lip (CP±L), despite cleft units routinely assessing speech at this age. The standardization of assessment practices would facilitate comparisons of outcomes across…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to familiarize speech-language-pathologists with the current state of the science regarding medialization laryngoplasty in the treatment of voice disorders, with emphasis on current evidence-based practice, voice outcomes, and future directions for research. Method: A literature review was performed in PubMed…

Background: Recent evidence suggests that pre-school children with co-occurring phonological speech sound disorder (SSD) and expressive language difficulties are at a higher risk of ongoing communication and literacy needs in comparison with children with these difficulties in isolation. However, to date there has been no systematic or scoping…

Clinical Question: Do preschool or young elementary school children (ages 4-8 years) with language impairment who receive complex syntax intervention show improvements in syntax relative to a comparison intervention or control condition? Method: Systematic Review. Study Sources: ERIC, Education Source, PsycINFO, Web of Science, ComDisDome. Search…

Clinical Question: For a preschool student with a severe phonological disorder, will incorporating a non-developmental target sequence be a more efficient approach than a developmental target sequence for improving speech sound production? Method: EBP Intervention Comparison Review. Sources: ASHA publications, PsycINFO database, PubMed database.…

Clinical Question: Do school-age children receiving treatment for speech, language, and/or communication disorders show equivalent benefit from telepractice-based intervention as from on-site intervention as shown by comparable improvement in speech, language, and communication skills across the two treatment platforms? Method: Systematic Review…

Clinical Question: Would preschool children with SSD demonstrate similar or greater improvement in speech sound production during interventions including phonemic awareness goals and procedures than during speech sound interventions without those elements? Method: EBP Intervention Comparison Review. Sources: Google Scholar, ASHA publications.…

This article reviews research examining the efficacy of early phonological interventions for young students identified with speech and language impairments. Eighteen studies are included, providing results for nearly 500 students in preschool through third grade. Although findings are generally positive, there are large individual differences in…

Presents systematic analysis of the major treatment approaches used for selective mutism. Based on nonparametric statistical tests of effect sizes, major findings include the following: treatment of selective mutism is more effective than no treatment; behaviorally oriented treatment approaches are more effective than no treatment; and no…