Children's Speech: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessment and Intervention

Children's Speech distills scientific evidence from around the world on sound disorders across the areas of speech acquisition, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and intervention, and presents it with practical knowledge to prepare speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to work with children and their families. The book is guided by two contemporary frameworks that direct the successful management of speech sound disorders in children: evidence-based practice (EBP) and the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health―Children and Youth (ICF-CY). The foundation knowledge covers important topics including defining the population, types of speech sound disorders, anatomical structures, articulation and transcription of speech sounds, and theoretical foundations of speech and speech acquisition. Practical evidence-based knowledge is covered in chapters that mirror the stages of contact when working with children with speech sound disorders including assessment, analysis, goal setting, intervention principles and plans, intervention procedures, phonological interventions, motor speech interventions, and the conduct of EBP. The last chapter provides comprehensive clinical information for five clinical cases, including transcribed speech samples, case history information, assessment results and other real-life material. Throughout, readers are directed to complete clinical application tasks, drawing on the case-based information in this final chapter.

Sharynne McLeod, Ph.D. is a speech-language pathologist and professor of speech and language acquisition from Charles Sturt University, Australia. She is an elected Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and Life Member of Speech Pathology Australia. She is an elected board member of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics, Vice President of the International Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics Association, a past editor of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and co-chair of the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech. Dr. McLeod has been an invited speaker at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association conventions as well as at conferences and universities in Australia, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, UK, US, and Vietnam.

Dr. McLeod's research focuses on monolingual and multilingual children's speech. She applies the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF-CY, World Health Organization, 2007) to children with speech sound disorders and is one of two speech-language pathologists who contributed to the development of the ICF-CY (WHO, 2007). Her research foregrounds the right of everyone (particularly children) to participate fully in society. Dr. McLeod also researches the prevalence and impact of childhood speech sound disorders and links this to policy and service delivery issues.

Elise Baker, PhD is a speech-language pathologist and academic from The University of Sydney, Australia. Dr. Baker has been an invited speaker at American Speech-Language-Hearing Association conventions has served as the National Tour Speaker for Speech Pathology Australia and is a member of the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech. Dr. Baker is an award-winning teacher. She has taught tertiary students in the area of speech sound disorders in children for over 20 years. She is passionate about speech-language pathologists and researchers working together to foster knowledge creation, dissemination and implementation. Dr. Baker nurtures her passion through service on the steering committee of a large evidence-based practice network of practicing speech-language pathologists. Dr. Baker’s research focuses on intervention for speech sound disorders in children, innovative service delivery solutions for children with speech sound disorders, speech-language pathologists' methods of practice with children who have speech sound disorders, and the conduct of evidence-based practice.