Dose Frequency RCT on DTTC in Children With CAS

Launched by MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY · Dec 22, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying the best way to help children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), a condition that makes it hard for them to say words correctly. The researchers want to find out if the number of treatment sessions each week affects how well children improve their speech. In this study, 60 children with CAS will be divided into two groups. One group will receive therapy twice a week for 12 weeks, while the other group will have therapy four times a week for 6 weeks. The goal is to see which schedule helps children say words more accurately.

To participate in this trial, children must be between 2 years and 6 months and 7 years and 11 months old, and they should primarily speak English. They also need to have a confirmed diagnosis of CAS and should not have other significant developmental issues or speech problems. Participants can expect to receive their treatment from local speech therapists in their community. It's important to note that children receiving other speech therapies during the study will not be eligible. This trial aims to provide valuable information that could help improve speech therapy for children with CAS in the future.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. CAS diagnosis confirmed by research team as described below (e.g., Iuzzini-Seigel et al., 2022; Shriberg et al., 2017; Strand \& McCauley, 2019),
• • 2. 2;6-7;11 years of age at treatment commencement;
• • 3. English as the primary language;
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. concomitant developmental disorders (including autism, global developmental delay, intellectual disability);
• • 2. diagnosis of severe or primary dysarthria as described below;
• • 3. palatal or structural orofacial anomalies as described below,
• • 4. uncorrected vision impairment
• • 5. hearing loss;
• • 6. receiving speech treatment elsewhere over the course of this study, although language, augmentative and alternative communication treatment, or similar non-speech treatment, would be permitted
• • 7. Receptive Language Index standard score less than 70 on the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test, 4th edition (REEL-4; Brown et al., 2020) for children 2-3 years of age, the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Preschool 3rd edition (CELF-P3; Wiig et al., 2020) for children 4-5 years of age, or the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - 5th edition (CELF-5; Wiig et al., 2013) for children 6-7 years of age,
• • 8. Nonverbal Index standard score less than 70 on the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales- 2nd edition, Remote (Reynolds \& Kamphaus, 2015), and
• • 9. no evidence of communicative intent, attempts at verbal communication, focused attention to the clinician's face, or demonstrated ability to imitate during the DEMSS.