Research Priorities for Childhood Apraxia of Speech: A Long View.

This article introduces the Special Issue: Selected Papers From the 2022 Apraxia Kids Research Symposium. The field of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) has developed significantly in the past 15 years, with key improvements in understanding of basic biology including genetics, neuroscience, and computational modelling; development of diagnostic tools and methods; diversity of evidence-based interventions with increasingly rigorous experimental designs; and understanding of impacts beyond impairment-level measures. Papers in this special issue not only review and synthesize the some of the substantial progress to date but also present novel findings addressing critical research gaps and adding to the overall body of knowledge.

Update on Identification and Treatment of Infants and Toddlers With Suspected Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to (a) provide an updated review of the literature pertaining to proposed early features of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), (b) discuss the findings of recent treatment studies of infants and toddlers with suspected CAS (sCAS), and (c) present evidence-based strategies and tools that can be used for the identification of and intervention for infants and toddlers with sCAS or at high risk for the disorder.

Method: Since Davis and Velleman's (2000) seminal work on assessment and intervention in infants and toddlers with sCAS, limited research has guided clinicians in the complex task of identifying and treating early speech motor difficulties prior to a definitive diagnosis of CAS. Following the structure of Davis and Velleman, we explore the proposed early characteristics of CAS with reference to contemporary research.

Clinicians' Perspectives of Treatment for Lateralization Errors: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study.

Purpose: This mixed-methods study aimed to obtain information regarding speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) perspectives about treatment of lateralization errors (LEs), challenges to implementing evidence-based LE treatment practice, and the sources SLPs' use to find evidence to treat LEs. This information can assist our understanding of ways to facilitate the uptake of evidence-based practice into the everyday treatment of clients with this disorder.

Method: A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used to collect data from SLPs ( = 214) using 24 questions from an online survey distributed through electronic mailing lists and Speech and Hearing State Associations.

Early diagnostic indicators of childhood apraxia of speech in young children with 7q11.23 duplication syndrome: preliminary findings.

Limited evidence for early indicators of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) precludes reliable diagnosis before 36 months, although a few prior studies have identified several potential early indicators. We examined these possible early indicators in 10 toddlers aged 14-24 months at risk for CAS due to a genetic condition: 7q11.23 duplication syndrome (Dup7).

A retrospective video analysis of canonical babbling and volubility in infants later diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech.

Canonical babbling and volubility are common indicators of infant vocal development. If either indicator falls below values found in typical infants, it may be an early signal of a developmental disorder. The aim of this retrospective investigation was to examine home videos for the frequency of canonical babbles, age of canonical babbling onset, and overall volubility of eight infants later diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech and compare these data to that of six typically developing infants as well as four infants later diagnosed with a speech sound disorder.

Retrospective video analysis of the early speech sound development of infants and toddlers later diagnosed with lateralisation errors.

Although lateralisation errors (LEs) are a common speech sound disorder, no studies have examined their early development. The purpose of this exploratory small-scale investigation was to compare the early (birth-24 months) speech sound development between children later diagnosed with LEs and typically developing children. This was a between-group case-controlled design with six monolingual English-speaking participants.

Volubility, Consonant Emergence, and Syllabic Structure in Infants and Toddlers Later Diagnosed With Childhood Apraxia of Speech, Speech Sound Disorder, and Typical Development: A Retrospective Video Analysis.

Purpose Studies of infants' early vocalizations have proven helpful in describing the developmental characteristics of various communication disorders. However, few studies have addressed the early vocalizations of infants and toddlers who were later diagnosed, as older children, with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). We refer to these infants and toddlers as LCAS.

Stakeholders' qualitative perspectives of effective telepractice pedagogy in speech-language pathology.

Background: Academic programmes in speech-language pathology are increasingly providing telehealth/telepractice clinical education to students. Despite this growth, there is little information describing effective ways to teach it.

Aims: The current exploratory study analyzed the perceptions of speech-language pathology/therapy (SLP/SLT) faculty, student and SLP/SLT clinicians to ascertain effective pedagogical approaches for telepractice service delivery, rank the relative importance of telepractice skills and knowledge competencies, and define any pedagogical challenges to teaching them.

Perceptions of telepractice pedagogy in speech-language pathology: A quantitative analysis.

Introduction Despite the growth of telecommunication applications to provide clinical healthcare services, there has been little attention to the pedagogical framework needed to train healthcare students to deliver these services. Methods In this exploratory investigation, perceptions of speech-language pathology/therapy (SLP/SLT) faculty ( n = 31), graduate students ( n = 16), and telehealth ("telepractice") clinicians ( n = 16) were examined with a 15-item survey regarding the 1) comparative pedagogical importance of four skills common to telepractice and face-to-face service (f2f) delivery, and 2) relative pedagogical value of seven skills and competencies unique to telepractice. Results Statistical analyses revealed nonverbal communication skills and knowledge of the literature related to service delivery methods were more important in telepractice than in f2f service delivery.

Preliteracy Speech Sound Production Skill and Linguistic Characteristics of Grade 3 Spellings: A Study Using the Templin Archive.

Purpose: This archival investigation examined the relationship between preliteracy speech sound production skill (SSPS) and spelling in Grade 3 using a dataset in which children's receptive vocabulary was generally within normal limits, speech therapy was not provided until Grade 2, and phonological awareness instruction was discouraged at the time data were collected.

Method: Participants (N = 250), selected from the Templin Archive (Templin, 2004), varied on prekindergarten SSPS. Participants' real word spellings in Grade 3 were evaluated using a metric of linguistic knowledge, the Computerized Spelling Sensitivity System (Masterson & Apel, 2013).

Volubility, consonant, and syllable characteristics in infants and toddlers later diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech: A pilot study.

Purpose: This pilot study explored the volubility, consonant singleton acquisition, and syllable structure development between infants and toddlers (birth-24 months) with typical speech sound production (TYP) and those later diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS).

Method: A retrospective longitudinal between- and within-subjects research design was utilized (TYP N=2; CAS N=4). Vocalizations from participants were analyzed between birth-24 months from home videotapes, volunteered by the children's parents, according to type (nonresonant vs.

Preliteracy speech sound production skill and later literacy outcomes: a study using the Templin Archive.

Purpose: This archival study examined the relationship between the speech sound production skill of kindergarten children and literacy outcomes in Grades 1-3 in a data set where most children's vocabulary skills were within normal limits, speech therapy was not provided until 2nd grade, and phonological awareness instruction was discouraged at the time data were collected.

Method: Data were accessed from the Templin Archive (2004), and the speech sound production skill of 272 kindergartners were examined relative to literacy outcomes in 1st and 2nd grade (reading) and 3rd grade (spelling).

Results: Kindergartners in the 7th percentile for speech sound production skill scored more poorly in 1st- and 2nd-grade reading and 3rd-grade spelling than did kindergartners with average speech sound production skill; kindergartners in the 98th percentile achieved superior literacy skills compared to the mean.

Teachers' perceptions of students with speech sound disorders: a quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Purpose: This study examined 2nd-grade teachers' perceptions of the academic, social, and behavioral competence of students with speech sound disorders (SSDs).

Method: Forty-eight 2nd-grade teachers listened to 2 groups of sentences differing by intelligibility and pitch but spoken by a single 2nd grader. For each sentence group, teachers rated the speaker's academic, social, and behavioral competence using an adapted version of the Teacher Rating Scale of the Self-Perception Profile for Children (S.