Articulation Error Rates for Oral Reading Tasks in Children with Developmental Apraxia of Speech

Abstract

Recently, there have appeared in the literature treatment approaches for the disorder of developmental apraxia of speech in children. These treatment approaches make use of the visual modality, and specifically use reading stimulus materials to improve articulation skills. Several authors have endorsed this use of reading materials in the treatment of developmental apraxia of speech in children including Morley (1965); Rosenthal (1971); Rosenbek and Wertz (1972); and Rosenbek et al. (1974). These treatment approaches have been offered via the literature without the benefit of empirical verification that children with DAS will make fewer articulation errors while reading aloud than they would speaking spontaneously. The primary purpose of this investigation was to provide empirical support for the treatment approaches to DAS in children which make, use of reading stimuli to improve the articulation performance of these children. A secondary purpose was to present a possible treatment approach through the increasing of oral reading speed in children with DAS. Two specific null hypotheses were posed in this study: Children diagnosed as having developmental apraxia of speech will not make significantly more articulation errors on an oral reading task than they do on a spontaneous speaking task. Children diagnosed as having a developmental apraxia of speech will not make significantly more articulation errors on an oral reading task when reading at their normal rate, than when instructed to perform that oral reading task as fast as possible. Six children with DAS were chosen from the files of the Crippled Children's Division, University of Oregon Health Sciences Center. These children were screened for concomitant visual problems, hearing problems; organic disabilities, and symbolic language disabilities. Six children from the Canby Public Schools, Canby, Oregon, all having normal articulation, skills, served as the control group. Each subject was instructed to read several paragraphs aloud at his/her normal rate. Then the subject was instructed to describe in his/her own words, several pictures. Finally, the subject was instructed to read the same paragraphs over, this time as fast as possible, Comparisons of the scores for the spontaneous speaking task and the oral reading at normal rate task were made in addition to comparisons between the scores for the oral reading at normal rate task and the reading at fast rate task. Analysis of the data via the Mann Whitney-U Test produced the following results: No significant difference was found in the articulation error rates of the spontaneous speaking