TheSoundStartStudy
The Australian Research Council (ARC) funded the Sound Start Study to investigate a
computer-basedinterventionforthespeechandemergentliteracyskillsof4-and5-yearoldchildrenwithspeechsounddisorders.
T h i s r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t w a s
conductedin6stagesover3years
(between 2013 and 2015) and
consideredwhethereducators’use
of a computer program (Phoneme
FactorySoundSorter;PFSS)would
benefitchildrenwithspeechsound
disorders.Speechpathologistsand
e d u c a t o r s a t C h a r l e s S t u r t
University, The University of
Sydney,theUniversityoftheWest
ofEngland(UK),andtheUniversity
ofBristol(UK)workedtogetherto
completethisresearch.
Howmanychildrenwereinvolvedoverthethreeyears?
Stage Description
Children
1
Caregiverscreeningquestionnairecompleted
Educatorscreeningquestionnairecompleted
2
Screeningassessmentwithaspeechpathologist
275
3
Comprehensiveassessmentwithaspeechpathologist
133
4
Computer-basedtreatment(interventiongroup)
Typicalclassroompractice(controlgroup)
65
58
5
Follow-upassessment1(immediate)
114
6
Follow-upassessment2(6-8weekslater)
115
1
1,205
1,064
Childrenwhostartschoolandhave
ongoingspeechsounddifficulties
mayhavedifficultylearningtoread
Learning to read and write successfully requires children to
start school with good speech, language, and emergent
literacy skills (e.g., identifying sounds in words, having basic
knowledge about letters). Up to 1 in 5 Australian preschool
children have difficulty talking and making speech sounds.
Speech sound disorders occur when children have difficulty
usingandcombiningsoundsinwords.Between30%to77%of
children who continue to have speech difficulties when they
start school can have difficulty learning to read. However,
preschool-aged children with speech sound disorders may
not see a speech pathologist due to difficulty accessing
speech pathology services and/or a lack of awareness of
speechsounddisordersandtheirconsequences.
ResearchTeam
ChiefInvestigators
ProfessorSharynneMcLeod
DrEliseBaker
DrJaneMcCormack
PartnerInvestigators
ProfessorSueRoulstone
DrYvonneWren
ResearchStaff
DrKateCrowe
MsSarahMasso
Statistician
The Sound Start Study explored a new way to support
children’s speech sound development at preschool through
using the Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter (PFSS) computer
program. With PFSS, educators were able to support firstphase individualised intervention for children with speech
sound disorders within their early education environment,
following advice from a speech pathologist on the research
team.
DrPaulWhite
ResearchAssistants
DrTamaraCumming
MsCharlotteHowland
MsFelicityMcKellar
AimsoftheSoundStartStudy
TheSoundStartStudyhadthreeaims:
1. todeterminetheeffectivenessofthePhoneme
FactorySoundSorterprograminchangingthe
speech,pre-literacy,participation,andwell-being
ofchildrenwithspeechsounddisorders
2. todeterminetherelationshipbetweenchildren’s
speecherrorsandsoundprocessingskills,and
3. toexplorechild,family,andenvironmental
factorsthatareassociatedwithchangesinthe
speechofchildrenwithspeechsounddisorder.
2
StagesoftheSoundStartStudy
45 early childhood centres in the Greater Sydney region participated over the 3 years.
Thesecentreswereadministeredbythestategovernment,localgovernment,community
council,denominationalprivateschools,orprivateowners.
Stage1
Caregiversandeducatorscompletedquestionnairesdescribingchildren’sdevelopment.
• Morecaregivers(35%)andeducators(37%)were
Stage1FastFacts
Age:4yearsto5years7months(mean
age4years5months)
Gender:630malesand575females
Languagesused:Allchildrenused
Englishathomeand/orinearly
education.37.4%usedoneormore
languagesinadditiontoEnglish.68
otherlanguageswereusedbychildren
withthemostfrequentbeingArabic,
Urdu,Hindi,Korean,Mandarin,and
Spanish.
Speechpathology:208childrenhad
previouslyseenaspeechpathologist
concerned about children’s speech and
expressive language, more than any other area
ofchildren’sdevelopment
• A f t e r c o m m u n i c a t i o n , c a r e g i v e r s w e r e
concerned about behaviour then socialemotional,schoolreadiness,receptivelanguage,
self-help,finemotor,andgrossmotorskills.
• Parents described how well different people
couldunderstandtheirchild’stalking.
• Parents who were not concerned about their
children’s speech and language reported that
their child’s speech was typically understood by
themselves, immediate family, friends and
teachers.
Stages2and3
Screening assessments with a speech pathologist were offered to
children whose parents/educators indicated concern about their
speech development. Comprehensive assessments were then
completedwithchildrenwhohadaspeechsounddisorder.
Stage4
Childrenwererandomlyallocatedtoa‘control’(typical
classroom)oran‘intervention’condition(usingPFSS).
OveralleducatorsworkedhardtofitPFSSsessionsinto
their regular day and commented that their
involvementintheresearchstudywasapositive
experience.
Stage5and6
Assessmentswereconductedwithchildrenattheendoftermand
thenagain6-8weekslatertomeasurechangesinchildren’sspeech
and emergent literacy skills. Analysis of data is currently underway
todeterminechangesinchildren’sskills.
3
Sharingresults
Therehavebeen13conferencepresentations,1book,4
bookchapters,and3journalarticlespublishedasaresult
of the Sound Start Study. Many more are planned now
thatthedatacollectionhasfinished.Topicsdiscussedso
farinclude:
• Educators’ perspectives on speech pathology
interventioninpreschools
• Homeliteracyandprintknowledgeofchildrenwithspeechsounddisorders
• Theproductionoflongwordssuchashippopotamus,spaghetti,andescalator
bychildrenwithspeechsounddisorders
• Parentandeducatorconcernsaboutpreschoolchildren’sdevelopment
• Assessmentofphonologicalawarenessandphonologicalprocessinginchildren
withspeechsounddisorders
• Howchildrenwithspeechsounddisordersfeelabouttheirowntalking
• The relationship between dummies, bottles, thumb sucking and speech sound
disorders
• Howpreschoolchildren’sspeechisunderstoodbydifferentpeopleintheirlives
Thankyoutothechildren,families,educatorsandearlychildhoodcentreswhoparticipatedin
theSoundStartStudy.Thankyouforyoutimeandpatienceandyourhugecontributiontothe
datacollectedinthisresearch.
Thank you to the universities who have supported this
research: Charles Sturt University, The University of
Study, University of the West of England, Bristol
University, Bristol Speech and Language Therapy
ResearchUnit.
ThankyoualsototheAustralianResearchCounciland
theDepartmentofEducationandCommunitiesfortheir
supportofthisresearch.
Wewouldlovetohearfromyou!Therearethreewaystobeinvolved:
UPDATES
Moreupdatedinformation
andresultswillbeavailable
atwww.csu.edu.au/
research/sound-start
EMAIL
Ifyouhavequestionsabout
thisresearchpleasecontact
ProfessorSharynneMcLeod
[email protected]
GETINVOLVED
Ifyouareinterestedinbeing
involvedinfutureresearch
pleaseletusknowat
[email protected]
Photographshavebeenusedwiththepermissionofthechildren’sparents
4