This single-subject case study evaluates effects of treatment of a complex onset on the sound system of a monolingual Spanish-speaking child (female, aged 3;9) with phonological delay. Pretreatment, the child excluded all consonant+liquid clusters, as well as [the alveolar tap] and trill /r/. Immediately following training on [using the alveolar…

Background: It is well documented that adults can control stuttering if they use certain novel speech patterns referred to generically as prolonged-speech (PS). These speech patterns were refined in the 1960s and developed into behavioural treatment programmes. The bulk of available PS treatment research has focused on speech parameters thought to…

State licensure laws in speech-language pathology and audiology vary from state to state. Natural disaster displacements as well as trends in job mobility have increased the need for licensees to be able to have more fluidity in practicing from 1 state to another. Additionally, literature reviews on the history of professional licensure…

The study investigated the status of clinician services to limited- and non-English proficient (LEP/NEP) children with communication disorders. Surveys of speech/language pathologists, school districts, and professional organizations were undertaken. Results revealed the prevalence by type of communication disorders (language disorders were the…

Using 10 kindergarten children with poor articulation of /s/, this study sought to determine whether modification of speech sounds by the use of an electroacoustic filter improved the children's /s/ articulation, as compared to training of /s/ using non-filtered words. Posttest scores, as measured by "A Deep Test of Articulation," showed…

Three kindergarten children with residual articulation problems, as evidenced by the consistent misarticulation of "s," participated in a therapy program which employed simultaneous training of "s" in the initial, medial, and final positions of familiar words. Rapid generalization of correct "s" production occurred for all children. (Author/DB)

Eight chronic adult stutterers underwent an electromyographic (EMG) biological feedback training program to reduce masseter muscle tension in an effort to improve fluency. All subjects mastered the program within 10 30-minute sessions. Measures of muscle tension and fluency indicated improvements that were maintained three to six months later.…

This paper examines a prolonged speech treatment model for stuttering, the Camperdown Program. Sixteen participants showed minimal or no stuttering in everyday speaking situations for up to 12 months after entering the program's maintenance phase, with speech rates in the normal range. Results were achieved in a mean of 20 hours of clinic…

The study compared the effectiveness of two different reinforcement conditions to teach speech to severely handicapped nonverbal autistic children (N=4). Findings indicated that reinforcing speech attempts was more effective than reinforcing motor speech sounds in terms of both children's interest and behavior and of improvements in children's…

Two voice therapy approaches, vocal hygiene instruction and vocal function exercises, were compared for their functional effects with 58 teachers with voice disorders. Only the exercise group reported a significant reduction in perceived vocal handicap and this group also reported more overall voice improvement and greater ease and clarity in…

Background: Children with speech disorder are a heterogeneous group (e.g. in terms of severity, types of errors and underlying causal factors). Much research has ignored this heterogeneity, giving rise to contradictory intervention study findings. This situation provides clinical motivation to identify the deficits in the speech-processing chain…

Background: It has been suggested that one way to increase speech pathologists' confidence in working with people who stutter is to provide them with relevant and stimulating clinical experiences during their professional preparation. This paper describes a treatment programme for adults who stutter that is conducted by speech pathology students,…

A young child with macroglossia of unknown cause was seen for treatment to modify resting tongue posture and improve speech sound production. Evaluation of the treatments indicated positive change in resting tongue posture and a modest change in speech sound production. Treatment for such patients can be complex and must consider orthodontic…

A recent forum in "JFD" (28/3, 2003) evaluated the status of evidence-based practice in fluency disorders, and offered recommendations for improvement. This article re-evaluates the level of support available for some popular approaches to stuttering therapy and questions the relative value placed on some types of programs endorsed by the forum.…

To investigate the use of a self-monitoring activity as a method of promoting generalization of a target speech sound to nontraining conditions, 40 children (grades 2-7) with articulation impairments (sound substitutions) attended individual or small group speech therapy sessions. Self-monitoring activity focused on the child recording correct…