Date of Award

5-1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Communication Sciences & Disorders

Abstract

An unequivocal program of remediation for developmental dyspraxia of speech remains to be established. Observations have concluded that dyspraxia, a neurologically-based motor programming disorder, benefits from a multisensory stimulation approach. One augmentative approach which incorporates auditory, tactile and visual stimuli is Visual Phonics. Research is limited in the use of Visual Phonics in dyspraxic intervention and, therefore, its contribution to remediation cannot be substantiated.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the contribution of Visual Phonics to the remediation of developmental dyspraxia of speech. One subject, thirteen years of age, participated in this study. Upon identification of six prominently misarticulated sounds, the subject received two-hour intervention sessions, five tiroes per week, for three consecutive weeks. Standard articulation intervention augmented with Visual Phonics hand symbols was used to treat two of the error sounds in syllables, standard articulation intervention alone was used with another two error sounds, and the final two phonemes were monitored but not treated. Responses for all three treatments were recorded and results were shown in a time series of figures and tables.

Regardless of the treatment strategy, it was found that the subject made notable progress on all errors. Data obtained demonstrated that on average the sounds treated utilizing Visual Phonics progressed more rapidly and, further than the untreated target phonemes or those treated without Visual Phonics. It was concluded that extensive further research is necessary to establish the efficacy of Visual Phonics as a treatment tool for developmental dyspraxia and that this report’s promising results suggest further study is warranted.

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