Abstract

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a disorder of articulation and prosody interrupting the spatial and temporal planning and/or programming of speech movements and commonly co-occurs with aphasia. Most AOS treatment research has used single case experimental designs (SCEDS) to document the effects of treatment. The strength of SCEDs is that they can demonstrate clear causal relations between intervention and behavior change. The most studied AOS treatment is an articulatory-kinematic treatment called Sound Production Treatment (SPT). This study was designed to examine the effects of a novel treatment, Sound Production Treatment in a Metrical- Paced Frame (SPTMF), on the speech production of trained and untrained sentences in an adult with AOS and aphasia. This study worked closely with one participant (female) with chronic aphasia and AOS due to a hemorrhagic left cerebrovascular accident. Her AOS severity was classified according to ASRS 3.5 criteria as marked, with a severity rating of 3 and overall score of 30. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used. After baselines, treatment was applied to one set for sixteen sessions; following further baselines, treatment was then applied to a second set for sixteen more sessions. Follow-up probes were given after the treatment. Probes were administered at every baseline and every second treatment session. The novel treatment, SPTMF, combined elements of SPT and MPT (see Appendix C). It is a response contingent cueing hierarchy that is implemented after repetition attempts. Cues included digitally slowed models of target sentences produced by a typical speaker. The SPT hierarchy provided targeted articulation support. Following the treatments, the participant demonstrates an acquisition effect during both treatment phases. Generalization to untrained sentences also appears positive. In analysis of the secondary outcome measure (average syllable duration), data suggests that treatment may lead to reduced syllable duration during the treatment phase, although differences appear not to be maintained at follow-up.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders

Rights

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