Abstract
BackgroundApproximately 30% of children diagnosed with autism remain minimally verbal past age 5. Interventions are often effective in increasing spoken communication for some of these children. Clinical and research decisions would be facilitated by identifying early indicators of progress in interventions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between speech sound measures obtained from the early phases of treatment and later treatment outcomes in children with autism and minimal verbal skills.MethodsTwenty-three children (18 boys) between 5 and 9 years of age participated. We compared scores reflecting the phonemic features of word attempts produced during probes, and the number of correct words after 4 weeks of intervention to later word learning outcomes.ResultsCorrelational and hierarchical regression analyses showed that both predictors were positively correlated with outcomes, but the phonemic scores were more strongly related than number of correct words.ConclusionWe conclude that phonemic scoring may be a useful measure to determine proximal gains in a spoken word learning intervention. Proximal measures are particularly helpful when trying to decide if the current course of intervention should be maintained or altered.Trial registrationhttps://register.clinicaltrials.gov/prs/app/action/LoginUser?ts=2&cx=-jg9qo3.
Highlights
30% of children diagnosed with autism remain minimally verbal past age 5
Some children respond to speech intervention by learning to produce new words, while others learn to say few, if any, words despite intensive interventions focused on speech production
We asked if a phonemic scoring measure during early phases of intervention would predict progress in learning to say new words by children with autism?
Summary
30% of children diagnosed with autism remain minimally verbal past age 5. Recent efforts to teach spoken communication to children with autism past age 5 have had limited success [7, 8]. In these studies, some children respond to speech intervention by learning to produce new words, while others learn to say few, if any, words despite intensive interventions focused on speech production. We asked if a phonemic scoring measure during early phases of intervention would predict progress in learning to say new words by children with autism?
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
