Abstract: This presentation aims to provide clinicians with the knowledge necessary to implement the Cycles Approach with students who exhibit severe phonologic disorders. Clinicians will identify children who might benefit from the Cycles Approach and considerations for service delivery.
Description: Speech-Language Pathologists working with the pediatric population will encounter children with severe speech sound disorders in practically every setting. While there are many empirically supported methodologies for addressing speech sound disorders, many practitioners continue to rely on traditional phoneme-oriented models (e.g., Van Riper) that are more appropriate for children with mild speech impairments. For children with severe speech sound disorders, approaches that combine both traditional and linguistic approaches may be more appropriate and faster facilitate the remediation of speech sound errors. Barbara Hodson’s Cycles Approach was designed for highly unintelligible children with severe phonologic disorders and targets phonological process errors in a cyclical schedule. This session will build on the clinician’s knowledge of phonologic disorders and discuss considerations in determining whether Cycles is an appropriate approach to employ with a given child. Clinicians will learn the components of the Cycles Approach and considerations for selecting initial targets. Practical strategies for implementation with individuals and within groups will be discussed.
Presentation Format & Methods: PowerPoint with Interactive Q&A
Supporting Research: Reference 1: Prezas, R. F., Magnus, L., & Hodson , B. W. (2020). The Cycles Approach. In L. Williams, S. McLeod, & R. McCauley et al. (Eds.). Interventions for Speech Sound Disorders in Children(2nd Ed, 331-65). Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.
Supporting Research: Reference 2: Rudolph, J.M. & Wendt, O. (2014) The Efficacy of the Cycles Approach: A Multiple Baseline Design. Journal of Communication Disorders (47) pp. 1-16.
Supporting Research: Reference 3: Hodson, B. W. (2011). Enhancing phonological patterns of young children with highly unintelligible speech. The ASHA Leader, 16(4), 16–19.