A randomised control trial of two different speech therapy approaches (Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment and Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme 3rd edition) to treating Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

For 4-12 year old children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech does the Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment or the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme (3rd edition) provide greater treatment and/or generalisation gains up to 4 months post treatment?

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ANZCTR

Registry ID

ACTRN12612000744853

Enrollment

Registered

2012-07-12

Start date

2010-09-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2020-01-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have difficulties planning the movements required for speech sounds and melody. The difficulties associated with CAS often persist through life and are deterimental to academic, social and vocational development, despite normal intelligence. Currently a number of single case designs are available yet few treatments have been tested or replicated. We intend to complete the first randomised control trial to compare two treatments for CAS. The speech therapy treatments we want to compare are 1) the Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment (Ballard et al, 2010) and 2) the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme (3rd edition) (Williams & Stephens, 2004). Both treatments have preliminary promising evidence. We want to know if these treatments improve speech sounds and melody in children with CAS age 4-12 years. We also want to know which treatment will make better gains in treated sounds/words/sentences AND untreated but similar sounds/words/sentences.

Interventions

Rapid Syllable Transition Treatment (ReST) - is a complexity based speech therapy approach for children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. It is based on current Principles of Motor Learning with the intention of maximising long-term maintenance and generalisation of skills. ReST has Phase I / II research evidence (e.g. Ballard, Robin, McCabe & McDonald, 2010). Treatment dose: 1 hour individual therapy sessions, 4 days a week for 3 weeks. Each session will include 100-120 production trials to

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

4 Years to 12 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

a) clinical diagnosis of suspected Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), b) between 4 and 12 years of age, c) comprehension skills within 1 SD of the mean for a child’s chronological age (based on normative data for the receptive language score from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF) - Fourth edition or CELF Preschool - Second edition (Semel et al, 2006), d) normal or adjusted-to-normal hearing and vision, e) the child and at least one parent as native Australian English speakers, and f) no other diagnosed developmental / genetic disorders.

Exclusion criteria

Nil

Outcome results