Children with Speech Sound Disorders at School: Challenges for Children, Parents and Teachers

Teachers play a major role in supporting children’s educational, social, and emotional development although may be unprepared for supporting children with speech sound disorders. Interviews with 34 participants including six focus children, their parents, siblings, friends, teachers and other significant adults in their lives highlighted challenges for these children in school, and challenges for their parents and teachers in meeting these children’s developmental and educational needs. These challenges were centred on the need for specific expertise in the school setting, and access to additional classroom and professional services to support these students’ engagement in the learning and social environments of school. This research identifies frustrations that impact these families and teachers as they attempt to navigate the bureaucracies to which they are beholden

Tutorial : Speech assessment for multilingual children who do not speak the same language(s) as the speech-language pathologist

Purpose: The aim of this tutorial is to support speech-language pathologists (SLPs) undertaking assessments of multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders, particularly children who speak languages that are not shared with their SLP. Method: The tutorial was written by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech, which comprises 46 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) who have worked in 43 countries and used 27 languages in professional practice. Seventeen panel members met for a 1-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the tutorial, 26 panel members contributed to writing this tutorial, and 34 members contributed to revising this tutorial online (some members contributed to more than 1 task). Results: This tutorial draws on international research evidence and professional expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of working with multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders. This overview addresses referral, case history, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and goal setting and the SLP’s cultural competence and preparation for working with interpreters and multicultural support workers and dealing with organizational and government barriers to and facilitators of culturally competent practice. Conclusion: The issues raised in this tutorial are applied in a hypothetical case study of an English-speaking SLP’s assessment of a multilingual Cantonese- and English-speaking 4-year-old boy. Resources are listed throughout the tutorial

Effect of dialect on identification and severity of speech impairment in Indigenous Australian children

This study investigated the effect of dialectal difference on identification and rating of severity of speech impairment in children from Indigenous Australian backgrounds. The speech of 15 Indigenous Australian children identified by their parents/caregivers and teachers as having ‘difficulty talking and making speech sounds’ was assessed using the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology. Fourteen children were identified with speech impairment on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology using Standard Australian English (AusE) as the target pronunciation; whereas 13 were identified using Australian Aboriginal English (AAE) as the target. There was a statistically significant decrease in seven children’s severity classification and a statistically significant increase in all children’s percentage of consonants, vowels and phonemes correct when comparing AAE with AusE. Features of AAE used by the children included /h/ insertion and deletion, primary stress on the first syllable and diphthongs alternating with short clear vowels. It is important that speech-language pathologists consider children’s dialect as one component of culturally and linguistically appropriate services

Using online chat to enhance peer learning while on fieldwork placements

Students in applied science disciplines in the School of Community Health at Charles Sturt University undertake fieldwork in urban, rural and remote areas throughout Australia and overseas (e.g. Vietnam) in each of the four years of their course. As students are situated in a diversity of locations, the ability to offer academic support is greatly reduced, whilst the opportunity for peer support is non-existent. Online chat facilities are introduced to the students in first year and are available each time students are on fieldwork placements. During a specified time each week, students and their lecturer logon to discuss issues of importance to students. Peer learning and collegial support are significant outcomes of these sessions. Since its inception in 1999, the use of online chat for fieldwork support has been adopted by other programs such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy and social work in Australia and overseas

Communication Disability in Fiji:Community Cultural Beliefs and Attitudes

Purpose: Beliefs about communication disability vary according to the cultural context, and influence people’s attitudes and help-seeking behaviour. Little is known about Fijians with communication disability or the communities in which they live, and specialist services for people with communication disability are yet to be established in Fiji. An understanding of Fijian beliefs about the causes of communication disability and attitudes towards people with communication disability may inform future service development. Method: An interpretivist qualitative research paradigm and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework informed this project’s design. Scenarios of adults and children with communication disability were presented to 144 participants, randomly sampled across multiple public spaces in two Fiji cities. Thematic analysis of responses to 15 survey questions revealed participant beliefs about the causes and attitudes towards people with communication disability. Results: Three clusters describing perceived causes emerged from the analysis - internal, external, and supernatural. Major clusters across child and adult scenarios were similar; however, response categories within the scenarios differed. Community attitudes to people with communication disability were predominantly negative. These community attitudes influenced individual participants’ beliefs about educational and employment opportunities for Fijians with communication disability. Conclusion: Determination and acknowledgement of individuals’ belief systems informs development of culturally appropriate intervention programmes and health promotion activities. Implications: Speech-language pathologists and other professionals working with Fijian communities should acknowledge community belief systems and develop culturally-specific health promotion activities, assessments, and interventions

Tutorial: Speech Assessment for Multilingual Children Who Do Not Speak the Same Language(s) as the Speech-Language Pathologist

Purpose: The aim of this tutorial is to support speech language pathologists (SLPs) undertaking assessments of multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders, particularly children who speak languages that are not shared with their SLP. Method: The tutorial was written by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech, which comprises 46 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) who have worked in 43 countries and used 27 languages in professional practice. Seventeen panel members met for a 1-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the tutorial, 26 panel members contributed to writing this tutorial, and 34 members contributed to revising this tutorial online (some members contributed tomore than 1 task). Results: This tutorial draws on international research evidence and professional expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of working with multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders. This overview addresses referral, case history, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and goal setting and the SLP's cultural competence and preparation for working with interpreters and multicultural support workers and dealing with organizational and government barriers to and facilitators of culturally competent practice. Conclusion: The issues raised in this tutorial are applied in a hypothetical case study of an English-speaking SLP's assessment of a multilingual Cantonese-and English-speaking 4-year-old boy. Resources are listed throughout the tutorial. 2017 The Authors.The development of this tutorial was supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT0990588) “Speaking My Languages: International Speech Acquisition in Australia” awarded to Sharynne McLeod.casl26pub4836pub

Pacifiers, Thumb Sucking, Breastfeeding, and Bottle Use:Oral Sucking Habits of Children with and without Phonological Impairment

Aims: The aim of this study was to describe the nutritive and non-nutritive oral sucking habits (breastfeeding, bottle use, pacifier/dummy/soother use, thumb/finger sucking) of preschoolers with and without phonological impairment, and to determine whether oral sucking habits are associated with the presence and severity of phonological impairment. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 199 Australian English-speaking preschoolers with and without phonological impairment. Preschoolers’ speech was directly assessed, and parents/caregivers completed a questionnaire. Chi-square (χ2) tests were used to examine relationships between oral sucking habits and the presence and severity of phonological impairment. Results: Based on caregiver reports, 79.9% of participants had been breastfed (33.3% for >12 months), 58.3% had used a pacifier (74.2% for ≥12 months), 83.9% had used a bottle (73.4% for >12 months), and 15.1% sucked their thumb/fingers. There was no association between a history of oral sucking and the presence and severity of phonological impairment. Conclusion: The majority of preschoolers had been breastfed and bottle-fed, and more than half had used a pacifier. The findings support an understanding that phonological impairment is not associated with a history of nutritive and non-nutritive sucking habits. Research is needed to examine the association between oral sucking habits and other types of speech sound disorders

Comparison of Ten Interventions for a 7-year-old with Unintelligible Speech

The management of speech impairment of unknown origin in children requires SLPs to make important clinical decisions around assessment, analysis, diagnosis and intervention. Ideally, clinicians should be guided in their decision making by evidence. Over thirty years ago, this was a relatively straightforward task. Most children’s speech problems were assessed, analysed and treated from an articulation perspective. Since the paradigm shift from articulation to phonology, clinical decision making has become more challenging. This challenge is in part due to the increase in possible approaches. This short course will outline the application of ten intervention approaches to one child and will conclude with a description and outcomes of one intervention approach Internationally recognized phonologists and speech researchers will present ten intervention approaches for Jarrod, a seven-year-old boy with highly unintelligible speech. Each theoretical framework will be outlined, followed by relevant methods of assessment and recommendations for intervention based on analysis data. Videos of the child during assessment will be shown to help participants understand his speech sound system. The intervention that was implemented will be summarized and results will be provided. Participants in this session will have opportunities to compare major phonological evaluation and intervention approaches currently being used in Australia, America, Canada, and England

Implementation fidelity of a computer-assisted intervention for children with speech sound disorders

© 2017 The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: Implementation fidelity refers to the degree to which an intervention or programme adheres to its original design. This paper examines implementation fidelity in the Sound Start Study, a clustered randomised controlled trial of computer-assisted support for children with speech sound disorders (SSD). Method: Sixty-three children with SSD in 19 early childhood centres received computer-assisted support (Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter [PFSS]–Australian version). Educators facilitated the delivery of PFSS targeting phonological error patterns identified by a speech-language pathologist. Implementation data were gathered via (1) the computer software, which recorded when and how much intervention was completed over 9 weeks; (2) educators’ records of practice sessions; and (3) scoring of fidelity (intervention procedure, competence and quality of delivery) from videos of intervention sessions. Result: Less than one-third of children received the prescribed number of days of intervention, while approximately one-half participated in the prescribed number of intervention plays. Computer data differed from educators’ data for total number of days and plays in which children participated; the degree of match was lower as data became more specific. Fidelity to intervention procedures, competency and quality of delivery was high. Conclusion: Implementation fidelity may impact intervention outcomes and so needs to be measured in intervention research; however, the way in which it is measured may impact on data