It Might Not Be “Just Artic”: The Case for the Single Sound Error

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this article is to explore the ways in which children with mild speech sound disorders (SSDs)—that is, single sound errors—may be at risk for difficulties with phonological awareness, decoding, spelling, and social–emotional well-being. Conclusions SSDs comprise a group of children who have difficulty in consistently and correctly producing 1 or more phonemes in their ambient language. Presently, there is a concerning trend with respect to service provision for children who have only a few—or only 1—sounds in error. That is, these children may not receive services at all. This practice is problematic, because it assumes that children with a single sound in error are not at risk for or experiencing any related educational difficulties. However, research supports connections between SSDs, including single sound errors, and decoding, spelling, and social–emotional deficits. This article aims to make the case for the single sound error—sometimes it is not “just artic.” Clinical recommendations for assessment, treatment, and advocacy are included.

Children's English Consonant Acquisition in the United States: A Review

“…Within the United States, the consonants /ɹ/ and /s/ are commonly reported as "residual errors" and "common clinical distortions" for children with persistent SSDs (e.g., Karlsson et al, 2002;Shriberg et al, 1997b). These consonants also are common intervention targets (e.g., Farquharson, 2019;Smit, 1993a) and have received attention from many speech researchers in the United States (e.g., Preston et al, 2019). Table 4 demonstrates that the Smit et al (1990) study had the latest age of acquisition for /ɹ/ in this review.…”

“…Recently, Storkel (2019a) encouraged SLPs and policy makers to consider going beyond the use of developmental norms when considering eligibility for services. This requires SLPs to consider children's capacity and performance within their environment, encompassing speech production (e.g., consonants, vowels, consonant clusters, polysyllables, stress relevant to their ambient language; Farquharson, 2019;Storkel, 2019a), speech perception (Rvachew et al, 1999), a comprehensive independent and relational analysis (Fabiano-Smith, 2019;McLeod & Baker, 2017;, intelligibility (McLeod, 2020;McLeod et al, 2012), stimulability (Powell & Miccio, 1996), phonological awareness, spelling, reading (Gillon, 2004;Farquharson, 2019), academic and social impact (Krueger, 2019), as well as insights from children themselves (McCormack et al, 2019) and significant others in their lives (McCormack et al, 2010;McLeod, 2004).…”

Clinical Forum Prologue: Speech Sound Disorders in Schools: Who Qualifies?

“…The third article (Farquharson, 2019) helps us understand what is meant by educational performance and the connection between speech sound disorders and written language. This article makes the case that more than just speech sounds need to be considered when determining eligibility for services.…”

Tackling Burnout in the School Setting: Practical Tips for School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists

“…There is no better reporter of this information than the classroom teacher. Although it may be common to get a brief teacher report, we must expand that into obtaining curriculum data related to spelling, reading, vocabulary, syntax, writing, and overall engagement in the classroom (Farquharson, 2019). Curriculum data can help establish the need for additional academic support, and in turn, allow for a differentiated IEP specific to the student's deficits to be created.…”