Intensive treatment for children with speech sound disorders
Intensive Speech Motor Chaining Treatment for Residual Speech Sound Disorders
This study tests whether more frequent speech therapy sessions can help school-age children with speech sound disorders improve their speech better than traditional therapy schedules.
Quick facts
| Phase | Phase1; Phase2 |
|---|---|
| Study type | Interventional |
| Enrollment | 84 (estimated) |
| Ages | 9 Years to 17 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Sponsor | Syracuse University Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Syracuse, New York) |
| Trial ID | NCT05929859 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
What this trial studies
This clinical trial aims to compare the effectiveness of intensive versus distributed treatment schedules for school-age children with residual speech sound disorders. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a traditional treatment schedule of two sessions per week over eight weeks or an intensive schedule of four sessions per week for four weeks. The study focuses on optimizing motor-based treatments for specific speech sounds, particularly /ɹ/ and /s/, to enhance learning outcomes. By investigating the impact of treatment intensity on speech sound learning, the trial seeks to address practical barriers in therapy delivery.
Who should consider this trial
Good fit: Ideal candidates are school-age children between 9 and 17 years old who have difficulty producing the sounds /ɹ/ and/or /s/ and meet specific language and hearing criteria.
Not a fit: Patients who do not have residual speech sound disorders or who exhibit features of childhood apraxia of speech may not benefit from this study.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this study could lead to more effective treatment strategies for children with speech sound disorders, improving their communication skills and overall quality of life.
How similar studies have performed: While the approach of varying treatment intensity is being explored, this specific comparison of intensive versus distributed schedules in this context is relatively novel.
Eligibility criteria
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Must speak American English as a dominant language. * Must have began learning English by at least the age of 3 years. * Must be between 9;0 to 17;11 years of age. * Must have reported difficulty with /ɹ/ and/or /s/ production * Must pass pure tone hearing screening at 25 dB at 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. * Must receive a scaled score of at least 5 on the Listening Comprehension and Story Retelling subtests of the Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills (TILLS) * Must receive a percentile score of 5 or below on the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-3 (GFTA-3) Sounds in Words subtest. * Must have 1 scorable response with 5+ consecutive correct /pataka/ with \> 3.4 syllables per second in the MRR-Tri task of the Maximum Performance Tasks OR must demonstrate no childhood apraxia of speech (CAS-only) features in BOTH articulatory and rate/prosody domains of the ProCAD. * Must score \<40% accurate on /ɹ/ and/or /s/ probes assessing these sounds at the word level. * Must express a desire to modify their speech. Exclusion Criteria: * Must have no known history of autism spectrum disorder, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, permanent hearing loss, or brain injury. * Must not have current cleft palate or voice disorder.
Where this trial is running
Syracuse, New York
- Syracuse University — Syracuse, New York, United States (Recruiting)
Study contacts
- Principal investigator: Jonathan Preston, PhD — Syracuse University
- Study coordinator: Jonathan Preston, PhD
- Email: jopresto@syr.edu
- Phone: 315-443-1351
How to participate
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Visit the official trial page on ClinicalTrials.gov for the most current contact information and recruitment status.
- Contact the listed study coordinator or principal investigator to request pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.