TY - JOUR
T1 - Telepractice Treatment of Residual Rhotic Errors Using App-Based Biofeedback
T2 - A Pilot Study
AU - Peterson, Laura
AU - Savarese, Christian
AU - Campbell, Twylah
AU - Ma, Zhigong
AU - Simpson, Kenneth O.
AU - McAllister, Tara
N1 - Funding Information:
and R01DC017476 (PI: Tara McAllister) and by an ASHFoundation Clinical Research Grant awarded to Tara McAllister. The authors gratefully acknowledge Shari Sokol, Brandon McDevitt, Leah Black, Maria Hase, Kyung Hae Hwang, Martha Alman, Alison Trumpore, Thea Nihiser, and Amanda Spinogatti for their vital contributions as clinical partners in preliminary research leading up to this study. The authors also thank the members of the staRt app development team, including Tae Hong Park, Mario Svirsky, Will Haack, Sam Tarakajian, Helen Carey, and Jonathan Chin, and members of the Biofeedback Intervention Technology for Speech Lab who contributed to this project, especially Samantha Ayala, Samantha Beames, Kristina Doyle, Tabitha McCloud-James, Jelani White, and Graham Feeny. Finally, the second author extends his thanks to his thesis advisors, Julia Sturm and Diti Bhadra.
Funding Information:
Work on this project was partly funded by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Grants R41DC016778 (PI: Tara McAllister)
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - Purpose: Although mobile apps are used extensively by speech-language pathologists, evidence for app-based treatments remains limited in quantity and quality. This study investigated the efficacy of app-based visual–acoustic biofeedback relative to nonbiofeedback treatment using a single-case randomization design. Because of COVID-19, all intervention was delivered via telepractice. Method: Participants were four children aged 9–10 years with residual errors affecting American English /ɹ/. Using a randomization design, individual sessions were randomly assigned to feature practice with or without biofeedback, all delivered using the speech app Speech Therapist’s App for /r/ Treatment. Progresswas assessed using blinded listener ratings of word probes administered at baseline, posttreatment, and immediately before and after each treatment session. Results: All participants showed a clinically significant response to the overall treatment package, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to very large. One participant showed a significant advantage for biofeedback over nonbiofeed-back treatment, although the order of treatment delivery poses a potential confound for interpretation in this case. Conclusions: While larger scale studies are needed, these results suggest that app-based treatment for residual errors can be effective when delivered via telepractice. These results are compatible with previous findings in the motor learning literature regarding the importance of treatment dose and the timing of feedback conditions. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.18461576.
AB - Purpose: Although mobile apps are used extensively by speech-language pathologists, evidence for app-based treatments remains limited in quantity and quality. This study investigated the efficacy of app-based visual–acoustic biofeedback relative to nonbiofeedback treatment using a single-case randomization design. Because of COVID-19, all intervention was delivered via telepractice. Method: Participants were four children aged 9–10 years with residual errors affecting American English /ɹ/. Using a randomization design, individual sessions were randomly assigned to feature practice with or without biofeedback, all delivered using the speech app Speech Therapist’s App for /r/ Treatment. Progresswas assessed using blinded listener ratings of word probes administered at baseline, posttreatment, and immediately before and after each treatment session. Results: All participants showed a clinically significant response to the overall treatment package, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to very large. One participant showed a significant advantage for biofeedback over nonbiofeed-back treatment, although the order of treatment delivery poses a potential confound for interpretation in this case. Conclusions: While larger scale studies are needed, these results suggest that app-based treatment for residual errors can be effective when delivered via telepractice. These results are compatible with previous findings in the motor learning literature regarding the importance of treatment dose and the timing of feedback conditions. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.18461576.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85128488661&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85128488661&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00084
DO - 10.1044/2021_LSHSS-21-00084
M3 - Article
C2 - 35050705
AN - SCOPUS:85128488661
VL - 53
SP - 256
EP - 274
JO - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
JF - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
SN - 0161-1461
IS - 2
ER -