- 期刊
Efficacy of Combined Treatment With Integral Stimulation and the Minimal Contrast Approach for Childhood Apraxia of Speech-A Preliminary Study
摘要
The effects of a combined treatment approach that included integral stimulation paired with minimal contrast treatment in Mandarin-speaking children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) were examined. A multiple-baseline design across subjects was used to evaluate the treatment efficacy in six children with CAS, aged four to six years, who received the dual-treatment approach over 40 weekly sessions. The outcome was assessed based on four measures: (1) phonetic inventory, (2) percentage of consonants correct (PCC), (3) consonant substitute inconsistency percentage (CSIP), and (4) inconsistency severity percentage (ISP). The combined therapy approach resulted in marked improvement in the PCC, averaging 71.9% (range = 62.6-88.4%). The participants gained 14 phones on average, with individual increments of 13-15 phones. Five of the six children had a reduced CSIP following treatment, the average decrease being 6.3% across all children. The average decrease in the ISP was 21.0%. In conclusion, combining integral stimulation and minimal contrast treatment may effectively increase the consonant accuracy, speech sound inventory, and consistency for both treated and untreated words in children with CAS.