The Correlation Between Non-Speech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME) and Speech Production in Childhood Apraxia of Speech Treatment. A Wide Clinical Retrospective Research

Elad Vashdi,Špela Falatov,Jiang Pei-Ru,Amit Avramov,Huang Yi-Chen,Paula Teodora Mamina-Chiriac

doi:10.18662/brain/11.3sup1/126

Abstract

Purpose: The use of Non speech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME) for motor speech sounds disorder treatment has been discussed in the literature in the last three decades, with most of the research presenting poor results for using NSOME. The purpose of this article was to add evidence related to that debate and show the correlations between NSOME and sound production among children diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). Another goal is to clarify the misuse of the term in clinical settings and literature, while presenting solutions to the debate. Method: 256 VML entry evaluations and 89 long term treatment processes were analysed retrospectively. The correlations between Single Sound Pronunciation (SSP) and NSOME variables (i.e. blowing, oral motor imitation and tongue movements) were calculated using the entry evaluation group, as well as the correlations between the changes in SSP and NSOME variables using the long-term group. Results: High correlations were found between NSOME variables and SSP in both groups tested. Conclusions: The results confirmed the relationship between oral motor skills and sound production. Theoretical explanations and practical implications are further discussed.

Highlights

This article aims at taking a different perspective and providing clinical evidence regarding the relationship between Non-Speech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME) and speech production
The NSOME use in the treatment of motor speech sounds disorder is controversial between researchers and clinicians
There is no empirical evidence for its significant usefulness over the solely speech exercises practice (Lof, & Watson 2008), the use of NSOME is considered in most of the academic world as mal-practice and not evidence based

Summary

Introduction

This article aims at taking a different perspective and providing clinical evidence regarding the relationship between Non-Speech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME) and speech production. The use of NSOME in motor speech sounds disorder treatment has been discussed in the literature in the last three decades, with most of the research discussing the use of NSOME as poorly related to speech production. No solid evidence has been found in the literature for having the NSOME more efficient in treatment of motor speech sounds disorder. Many clinicians still use the NSOME even though the literature "forbids" it. The relationship between NSOME and speech production should be researched more thoroughly in order to present a possible answer to the above debate

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