Speech and Music Therapy in the Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Introduction and a Case Study.

Purpose: Speech-Music Therapy for Aphasia (SMTA), a method that combines speech therapy and music therapy, is introduced as a treatment method for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). SMTA will be evaluated in a proof-of-principle study. The first case study is presented herein.

Music and musical elements in the treatment of childhood speech sound disorders: A systematic review of the literature.

Purpose: Music-based interventions are used in the treatment of childhood speech sound disorders (SSDs). Hypotheses on working mechanisms are being developed, focussing on shared neural processes. However, evidence of the effect of treatment with musical elements in SSDs in children is lacking.

Assessing the treatment effects in apraxia of speech: introduction and evaluation of the Modified Diadochokinesis Test.

Background: The number of reliable and valid instruments to measure the effects of therapy in apraxia of speech (AoS) is limited.

Aims: To evaluate the newly developed Modified Diadochokinesis Test (MDT), which is a task to assess the effects of rate and rhythm therapies for AoS in a multiple baseline across behaviours design.

Methods: The consistency, accuracy and fluency of speech of 24 adults with AoS and 12 unaffected speakers matched for age, gender and educational level were assessed using the MDT.