Psycholinguistic analysis of speech disorders in children

Psycholinguistic Analysis of Children's Speech Disorders ( PLAKSS ) is a procedure specially developed for the German language for diagnosing children's speech disorders . It was developed in 2002 by Annette V. Fox-Boyer . The test is based on the classification model of Barbara Dodd (1995). It is considered helpful for the precise assessment ofthe child's physiological language development level. It is also used for later therapy planning.

background

PLAKSS is based on two studies on speech development: on the one hand, on a study that examined monolingual German-speaking children aged between one year and six months to six years, and on the other, on another study to classify children's speech disorders. These studies were also based on the subgroups described by Barbara Dodd.

On the basis of the data obtained there, it is possible to decide whether a child is following the physiological development process or whether there is a delay in speech development .

construction

The test material consists of two parts:

Part 1: Naming of 99 pictures and 25-word test for sound consistency
Part 2: Protocol and evaluation sheets

It is up to the tester which sheets, which are available in tabular form, are used. Furthermore, with these sheets it is possible to show the success of the treatment in individual areas.

Table 1: Protocol sheet for process and sound findings

Table 2: Protocol sheet 25-word test

Table 3: Screening questionnaire on speech development status

Table 4: Evaluation sheet for physiological phononological processes

Table 5: Evaluation sheet for idiosyncratic phononological processes

Table 6: Evaluation sheet for determining the phonetic inventory

Table 7: Evaluation sheet for determining the phonemic inventory

Table 8: Evaluation sheet for checking the consonant connection

Table 9: Evaluation sheet for syllable structure analysis

Table 10: Presentation sheet of the treatment status with regard to the phonetic inventory

Table 11: Presentation sheet of the treatment status with regard to the phonemic inventory

Table 12: Presentation sheet with regard to the sound formation sequence

execution

In the picture naming test, the child is asked to name the 99 items of the main material individually. If the child cannot recognize or name a picture, the examiner is allowed to help with a fill in the blanks. The tester should make a phonetically transcribed note of the child's utterances and also make a sound recording during the entire performance. This test enables a phonological process analysis as well as further linguistic analyzes.

The 25-word test consists of items that are all already present in the picture naming test. The aim of this test is to check the consistency of the phonological statement. Therefore, these 25 items are named twice and entered in Table 12 during the examination hour. The material from the 25-word test also serves as a screening method . The execution time of the main material is about 10-20 minutes. Finally, the 25-word test takes another 10 minutes.

target

The test is aimed at speech therapists and other speech therapists who work with speech-impaired children. The aim of the test is to determine the speech status of a child, both for the initial diagnosis and subsequently for a follow-up diagnosis. PLAKSS can be used for both, and also contains examination forms in which the course of therapy and progress can be entered.

Theoretical foundations

Speech disorders used to be explained exclusively from the point of view of articulation and therefore also had the term “functional articulation disorder”. In recent years, the perspective of phonological theories as the basis for speech disorders in children has become more preferred in research. Emerging phonological theories such as " Generative Phonology " and " Natural Phonology " also deal more and more with speech disorders in children. Furthermore, cognitivistic , neuropsychological and psycholinguistic models treat speech disorders . The Dodd classification model, for example, is a psycholinguistic model based on levels of disturbance in the language processing process . Since we specialize in the description of specific levels of disturbance, an individual training program can be created after careful diagnosis and classification. According to Dodd, there are four different subgroups of speech disorders that are checked using the PLAKSS:

Articulation disorder
delayed phonological development
Consistent phonological disorder
Inconsistent phonological disorder

Therapeutic approaches

Using the different test sheets, the respective disorders that require different therapy can be determined.

Articulation disorder

An articulation disorder is usually characterized by the fact that the problem of the linguistic deficit is not phonological in nature. The causes can be restricted oral motor skills e.g. B. be a myofunctional disorder, the habituation to an incorrect articulation point , or impaired hearing and the resulting difficulties in differentiating the sounds. One possible form of therapy is classic sound therapy , whereby the respective causes of the disturbance must be addressed.

Phonological delay

As the name suggests, children with phonological lag are not as advanced in their language development as their peers. The phonological processes are qualitatively adapted to the physiological development, but delayed or atypical in terms of age.

Classical articulation therapy in combination with phonological therapy would be suitable as therapy. Sounds with the same characteristics that are formed incorrectly should not be treated in isolation, but together. For example, if a child tends to be fronting , work should be done on perceiving the front and back of the palate. Furthermore, the children should learn to be able to differentiate between the respective phonemes in different sound environments - the isolation of the sounds is important here.

Consistent phonological disorder

If there is a consequent phonological disorder, there are deficits in phonological awareness. The phonological processes do not correspond to the physiological development. These processes are regular, so occur consistently. An example here is the regular process of relocations . Therapy must therefore also take place on a metalinguistic level. Therapeutic approaches can be:

Rhyme recognition and rhyme production
Alliteration perception and production
Segmentation of sentences, words, syllables and sounds
working with minimal pairs

The aim of therapy should be to make the child aware of the distinction between the individual phonemes.

Inconsistent phonological disorder

This type of disorder is the most difficult case in terms of therapy because the sound production is inconsistent or erratic. This means that the children always realize the same word differently. A suitable form of therapy is the " core vocabulary therapy " ( "Core Vocabulary-Therapy"), will be selected in the 10 important for the child words that it long again or repeat must say, until the debate is consistent. Depending on the success, the number of words is increased until a certain degree of consistency is achieved. This is usually followed by phonological therapy .

Change from PLAKSS to PLAKSS-II

The basic principle of the procedure has also been retained in the PLAKSS-II. The PLAKSS-II identifies pronunciation disorders in children better but not differently than with the PLAKSS. The test material of the PLAKSS-II has become clearer and the image material has been reassembled so that the PLAKSS-II is clearer than its predecessor. The picture naming test consists of 96 items that can be checked with 88 pictures. When selecting words, which primarily take into account the syllable structure and the structure of word stress in German, further criteria were used. The central course in the physiological development in children as well as the central pathological changes can be checked with significantly more items. The material of the PLAKSS-II is more closely adapted to phonological development and phonological pathologies. For the first time there is a version of the PLAKSS-II for Austria and Switzerland. The picture cards and the protocol sheets were adapted for Austria and Switzerland.

literature

Fox, AV (2005): PLAKSS-Psycholinguistic Analysis of Childhood Speech Disorders (2nd revised edition), Frankfurt: Pearsons.
Fox, A. (2004): Childish pronunciation disorders, Schulz-Kirchner Verlag, Idstein.
Jahn, T. (2001): Phonological disorders in children: Diagnostics and therapy, Stuttgart [u. a.]: Thieme
Dodd, B. (1995): Differential diagnosis and treatment of children with speech disorder. London: Whurr Publishers.