The Effects of Behavioral Speech Therapy on Speech Sound Production With Adults Who Have Cochlear Implants

Abstract

In this study, the authors examined the treatment efficacy of a behavioral speech therapy protocol for adult cochlear implant recipients. The authors used a multiple-baseline, across-behaviors and -participants design to examine the effectiveness of a therapy program based on behavioral principles and methods to improve the production of target speech sounds in 3 adults with cochlear implants. The authors included probe items in a baseline protocol to assess generalization of target speech sounds to untrained exemplars. Pretest and posttest scores from the Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale, Third Revision (Arizona-3; Fudala, 2000) and measurement of speech errors during spontaneous speech were compared, providing additional measures of target behavior generalization. The results of this study provided preliminary evidence supporting the overall effectiveness and efficiency of a behavioral speech therapy program in increasing percent correct speech sound production in adult cochlear implant recipients. The generalization of newly trained speech skills to untrained words and to spontaneous speech was demonstrated. These preliminary findings support the application of behavioral speech therapy techniques for training speech sound production in adults with cochlear implants. Implications for future research and the development of aural rehabilitation programs for adult cochlear implant recipients are discussed.