12 Nov Speech and Music Therapy in the Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Introduction and a Case Study
Summary by Mirjam van Tellingen, PhD
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Several methods are applied in the treatment of CAS. Some of these methods may use visual and tactile cues, while others focus more on speech rate and rhythm. Speech-Music Therapy for Aphasia (SMTA) is a combination of speech therapy and music therapy that uses music to support the natural rhythm of speech in words and sentences. Using music in this treatment provides an opportunity to have a high number of repetitions for each target in a pleasant way. A high intensity of the treatment is important for its effectiveness. Additionally, music has an overall positive effect on mood and motivation, which contributes to the effect of SMTA.
In SMTA, the speech therapist helps the child and/or their parents to select functionally relevant target words and sentences. The music therapist then composes unique melodies to these items. In every song, the target word or sentence is repeated several times. An exercise follows a structured procedure that starts with singing, followed by rhythmic chanting and speaking. Stepwise reduction of support is continued in speaking, where steps are taken from simultaneously speaking (together with the therapist), to taking turns and responding to a question.
In this article, the results of SMTA in the treatment of a 5-year-old boy with CAS are presented. After 20 sessions of SMTA, the boy’s speech was more intelligible, more consistent and he could produce difficult words better.
SMTA was effective for the boy in this study. These results provide support for further evaluation of SMTA in the treatment of CAS.
van Tellingen, M., Hurkmans, J., Terband, H., van de Zande, A. M., Maassen, B., & Jonkers, R. (2024). Speech and Music Therapy in the Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Introduction and a Case Study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9S). 3269–3287. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00619
Summary by Mirjam van Tellingen, PhD
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Several methods are applied in the treatment of CAS. Some of these methods may use visual and tactile cues, while others focus more on speech rate and rhythm. Speech-Music Therapy for Aphasia (SMTA) is a combination of speech therapy and music therapy that uses music to support the natural rhythm of speech in words and sentences. Using music in this treatment provides an opportunity to have a high number of repetitions for each target in a pleasant way. A high intensity of the treatment is important for its effectiveness. Additionally, music has an overall positive effect on mood and motivation, which contributes to the effect of SMTA.
In SMTA, the speech therapist helps the child and/or their parents to select functionally relevant target words and sentences. The music therapist then composes unique melodies to these items. In every song, the target word or sentence is repeated several times. An exercise follows a structured procedure that starts with singing, followed by rhythmic chanting and speaking. Stepwise reduction of support is continued in speaking, where steps are taken from simultaneously speaking (together with the therapist), to taking turns and responding to a question.
In this article, the results of SMTA in the treatment of a 5-year-old boy with CAS are presented. After 20 sessions of SMTA, the boy’s speech was more intelligible, more consistent and he could produce difficult words better.
SMTA was effective for the boy in this study. These results provide support for further evaluation of SMTA in the treatment of CAS.
van Tellingen, M., Hurkmans, J., Terband, H., van de Zande, A. M., Maassen, B., & Jonkers, R. (2024). Speech and Music Therapy in the Treatment of Childhood Apraxia of Speech: An Introduction and a Case Study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(9S). 3269–3287. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00619
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