Considerations in target selection in apraxia of speech treatment.

Abstract

This article presents a three-step decision process to determine the targets for treatment of speakers with apraxia of speech: (1) identification of which aspect of speech motor control (articulation or prosody) to address, (2) definition of specific targets within each category, and (3) embedding the target in larger units for practice. Phonetic and linguistic parameters that influence target selection are identified. Recently published treatment reports are examined for both the selection system used and the actual targets chosen. New considerations regarding how to choose treatment targets are discussed.