Interventions for Pre-School Children with Co-Occurring Phonological Speech Sound Disorder and Expressive Language Difficulties

Abstract

Background: Pre-school children with co-occurring phonological speech sound disorder and expressive language difficulties are more likely to have ongoing communication and literacy needs compared to children with these difficulties in isolation. However, to date there has been no systematic or scoping review of the literature specific to interventions for this frequently seen and high-risk group.
 Aims: The objective of this paper is to provide a rigorous and detailed protocol for a scoping review of interventions, which target both phonological speech sound disorder and expressive language difficulties in pre-school children with primary speech, language and communication needs. The protocol includes details on the development of a search strategy, as well as the trial of an extraction tool.
 Methods/Design: Included studies must aim to concurrently improve both speech production and expressive language. Children within included studies must be aged between 2:0 and 5:11 years and have communication needs with no known cause. In accordance with the Joanna Briggs institute scoping review methods guidelines, an initial search of the Ovid Emcare and Ovid Medline databases was conducted. Following this a final search strategy for these databases were produced. A draft extraction form was developed by the first author; this was then trialed by two authors on four articles each.
 Discussion: Following the systematic development of an initial search strategy and extraction form, a scoping review of this topic can take place. The development of a rigorous scoping review protocol is essential in enhancing the transparency and reliability of the subsequent review. A pre-developed search strategy and trialing of an extraction form is a fundamental part of this process.

Interventions for pre‐school children with co‐occurring phonological speech sound disorder and expressive language difficulties: A scoping review

“…As specified in the study protocol (Rodgers et al., 2021), the ‘concept’ of this review was the intervention content and delivery, outcome measures, and areas of speech and language targeted within included papers. For papers reporting on integrated interventions, content tended to be naturalistic (i.e., play based and non‐directive) in nature, with adult scaffolding techniques playing a key role.…”

“…With the support of a clinical librarian, keywords and index terms were adapted and selected for each database as appropriate within the final search. Further details of development of the initial search strategy can be found in the protocol (Rodgers et al., 2021). For the final search strategy for Ovid Emcare and Ovid Medline, see Appendix 2 in the additional supporting information.…”

“…Data were extracted from the papers using a researcher‐developed extraction form, which was developed as outlined within the study protocol (Rodgers et al., 2021). Key information extracted using the form (see Appendix 3 in the additional supporting information) included participant age, aspects of speech and language targeted, and intervention content and delivery (including dosage).…”