Articulation and Phonology - Minimal Pairs

What are the two versions of minimal pair intervention?

"Meaningful Minimal Pair Intervention" "Perception-Production Minimal Pair Intervention" (one begins with production, the other with perception training)

What are the Intervention Targets for minimal pairs?

(use real words*) Consonants (tea, key) Vowels (bad, bed) Words (me, meet) Syllable shapes (no, snow) Absence of a phoneme can be a minimal pair like in "no" and "snow"

What are the Typical Treatment Targets?

-Developmental processes (e.g., fronting, cluster reduction) -Atypical or non-developmental processes -Distinctive feature production (e.g., continuous vs. interrupted, stridency) -Sounds consistently in error or excluded from inventory

What is the mean duration of tx?

18 hours/9.5 weeks

How many sessions a week for minimal pairs?

2 x a week

What is the primary population?

3- to 6-year-olds Without concomitant hearing, oral motor or language difficulties

What is the time length of therapy?

30 to 60 minutes

What is a minimal pair?

A pair of words that differ by 1 phoneme; that signals change in real life meaning ex ) child says b/t so when saying toy child says boy B and t differ by 2 features (voicing and place) you can have a minimal pair by 1, 2 or 3 features

What is the actual time from referral to discharge?

Actual time from referral to discharge is unknown

Why are minimal pairs important?

Allow you to highlight for children the need to produce a contrast between word pairs to show difference in meaning

Who is minimal pairs meant for?

For children with: Mild-to-moderate phonological impairment 1 or 2 age-inappropriate phonological processes or, 1 or 2 consistent speech sound errors Not for severe bc there are so many errors that would take you a long time Can show the difference to a child by showing them the words that change in meaning if said incorrectly

When do you reassess if minimal progress?

If minimal or slow progress is apparent after ~ 4-6 weeks, additional steps are necessary to facilitate progress.

What are the potential steps to facilitate progress?

Increase: number of treatment words number of trials per session treatment frequency involvement of parents and teachers Change number of targets Consider a different approach to treatment (First look at reasons why not getting progress and adjust those)

What is the most frequent model?

Individual sessions

What are things to ask yourself during the minimal pairs tx approach?

Is child responding to the intervention program? Is clinically significant change occurring? Is intervention responsible for the change? How long should a target be treated? Monitor if significant changes are happening

What are the treatment materials for minimal pairs?

Picture Stimuli Commercially available minimal pair resources

What is the Theoretical Foundation for Minimal Pair Contrasts?

Pragmatic principles: speakers repair misunderstandings (produce clear contrasts). It is the motivation for the child; they get what they want

Why prioritize non stimulable sounds in minimal pairs?

Prioritize non stimulable sounds to enforce learning Pre requisite clinical knowledge for treatment: 1)Distinctive features knowledge 2) Minimal pair contrasts

What are the assessment tools used in Minimal Pairs?

Single-words (HAAP) Connected speech samples (pros and cons?) (Language Sample) The Language sample is not recommended since the children are unintelligible. Can use if only if there are a few errors Phonological Process Analysis (KLPA???)

What is the treatment approach?

Summary: (all) Linguistic-based Treatment Focuses on Phonologic error patterns Recommended for multiple errors Teach phonological rules (more than articulation accuracy, initially) Perception and production Feature contrasts—minimal and maximal Work on perception of you think child not perceiving the differences Distinctive features are important for things that don't include manner place and voicing (example=rounding)

What is Linguistic-based treatment in minimal pairs?

Teach pairs of words that differ by a single phoneme or feature (e.g., move-mood, sun-ton) Show that these differences convey meaning (voicing: pat - bat) Establish production of the contrasts

What is the speech perception part of minimal pairs?

The ability of the child to understand that the listener is not understanding them. "The necessity of targeting speech perception as part of the minimal pair approach has not been resolved" However, several studies support the inclusion of speech perception training for children with phonological impairment.

What is the influence of stimulability in the minimal pairs intervention?

The majority of studies reported minimal pair intervention was effective Participants showed improved production of targeted sounds But generalization to non-stimulable sounds was rarely observed Recommended prioritizing non-stimulable over stimulable phonemes to maximize learning and progress

Who is the clinician?

clinician