Of these, five approaches (i.e., core vocabulary, cycles, naturalist recast, stimulability, and psycholinguistic intervention) were selected for review because they can be used to treat functional speech sound disorders produced by toddlers and none required additional clinician training for implementation. Challenges perpetuate the present clinical condition including those related to treatment decision making (e.g., intervention approach).Īlthough there are numerous speech sound production treatment approaches appropriate for the pediatric population, a much smaller proportion are proposed to be appropriate for children under the age of 3 years. Speech sound production intervention in early childhood is relatively rare despite empirical and theoretical support for providing this type of targeted therapy for toddlers. Differential response to intervention across subgroups provides evidence supporting theoretical perspectives regarding the nature of speech disorders: it reinforces the concept of different underlying deficits resulting in different types of speech disorder. The results provide evidence that treatment targeting the speech-processing deficit underlying a child's speech disorder will result in efficient system-wide change. Core vocabulary therapy resulted in greater change in children with inconsistent speech disorder and phonological contrast therapy resulted in greater change in children with consistent speech disorder. Changes in consistency of production and accuracy (per cent consonants correct) were used to measure the effect of each intervention.Īll of the children increased their consonant accuracy during intervention. All children received two 8-week blocks of each intervention. To evaluate the effect of two different types of therapy on speech accuracy and consistency of word production of children with consistent and inconsistent speech disorder.Įighteen children (aged 4 08-6 05 years) with severe speech disorder participated in an intervention study comparing phonological contrast and core vocabulary therapy. Intervention targeting different deficits should result in a differential response to intervention across these subgroups. This situation provides clinical motivation to identify the deficits in the speech-processing chain that underlie different subgroups of developmental speech disorder. Much research has ignored this heterogeneity, giving rise to contradictory intervention study findings. in terms of severity, types of errors and underlying causal factors). Children with speech disorder are a heterogeneous group (e.g.

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