Speech Therapy for Hearing Loss

(Project PAIR Trial)

Overseen By Jena McDaniel

Age: < 18

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: Vanderbilt University

Disqualifiers: Motor speech disorder, Oral structural disorder, Autism, ADHD, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 3

Duration: 6 weeks

10 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial examines how a combination of parent-led and clinician-led speech therapy can help elementary-aged children with hearing loss improve their speech. It aims to determine if these combined approaches can enhance the clarity of speech sounds during conversations. Children who have had hearing loss since birth, speak English at home, and exhibit some speech sound errors may be suitable candidates for this trial. Each child will undergo both Broad Target Speech Recast and Traditional Speech Therapy, with effects measured over time. As an unphased trial, this study provides a unique opportunity to contribute to innovative speech therapy research that could benefit many children.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether participants need to stop taking their current medications.

What prior data suggests that this speech therapy protocol is safe for children with hearing loss?

Research has shown that Broad Target Speech Recast (BTSR) safely helps children improve their speech. Past studies have used BTSR with children who have speech difficulties, such as those with a cleft palate, and reported no negative effects. Designed as a natural and gentle method, parents can use it at home to help their children practice speaking.

Traditional speech therapy, also part of this study, has been used for many years. It involves speech-language experts working directly with children to improve their speech. This therapy is generally well-received and has no known safety issues.

Overall, both BTSR and traditional speech therapy are considered safe for children. Prospective participants can feel confident about the safety of these methods. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the Speech Therapy for Hearing Loss trial because it introduces a unique method called Broad Target Speech Recast (BTSR). Unlike traditional speech therapies that may focus on specific sounds or words, BTSR involves parents in the process and combines their efforts with clinician-led sessions, offering a more holistic approach. This dual-action strategy could lead to more personalized and effective outcomes for individuals with hearing loss, as it allows for continuous support and adaptation over time. By involving parents directly, the therapy could also enhance the learning environment outside of clinical settings, potentially speeding up progress and making the therapy more accessible.

What evidence suggests that this speech therapy approach is effective for hearing loss?

Research has shown that when parents use Broad Target Speech Recast (BTSR), it can help children improve their speech sounds. A review of studies found that a technique used in BTSR, called conversational recasts, helps children develop better grammar. Another study compared BTSR with the Easy Does It for Articulation program and found both improved speech. In this trial, participants will engage in two conditions: Parent-implemented BTSR and Parent-implemented BTSR combined with clinician-implemented speech therapy. Traditional speech therapy is also effective for children with hearing loss. Combining BTSR with traditional speech therapy might lead to even better speech accuracy during conversations. ^{6 7 8 9 10}

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for children aged 4 to almost 10 years with permanent, prelingual sensorineural hearing loss who primarily use spoken English at home. They must have a certain level of cognitive and language comprehension abilities (scores ≥70 on specific tests) and have at least two speech sound errors that can be targeted in therapy.

Inclusion Criteria

My Leiter test score is 70 or higher.

My listening comprehension score is 70 or higher.

I have at least two speech errors according to norms.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Baseline

Initial assessment of speech sound production and baseline data collection

2 weeks

1 visit (in-person)

Treatment

Participants receive parent-implemented Broad Treatment Speech Recast and clinician-led articulation therapy

6 weeks

Weekly visits (in-person)

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for generalization of speech sound accuracy at the conversation level

4 weeks

2 visits (in-person)

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Broad Target Speech Recast
• Traditional Speech Therapy

Trial Overview The study is testing the effectiveness of parents helping their kids with speech exercises at home (Broad Target Speech Recast), along with traditional speech therapy led by professionals. The goal is to see if this combination improves how well these children pronounce words.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Articulation Therapy Experimental Treatment 2 Interventions

Participants engage in two conditions: (1) Parent-implemented Broad Target Speech Recast (BTSR), (2) Parent-implemented BTSR combined with clinician-implemented speech therapy This is a nonconcurrent multiple probe single-case experimental design with staggered introduction of conditions across participants. All participants receive both interventions, but the interventions are introduced in separate phases and evaluated independently and in combination. This is not a crossover or parallel group design. Rather than having separate arms or randomization, each participant serves as their own control over time, allowing for individualized evaluation of intervention effects.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

Vanderbilt University

Lead Sponsor

Trials

714

Recruited

6,143,000+

Citations

1. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06936696

Project PAIR: Parent-implemented Articulation Intervention ... This study examines whether the combination of parent-implemented BTSR and clinician-led traditional articulation therapy leads to improved speech sound ...

2. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4450887/

The Efficacy of Recasts in Language Intervention This systematic review and meta-analysis critically evaluated the research evidence on the effectiveness of conversational recasts in grammatical development

3. ies.ed.gov ies.ed.gov/use-work/awards/efficacy-broad-target-speech-recasts-students-down-syndrome

Efficacy of Broad Target Speech Recasts on Students with ... The research team will test the efficacy of Broad Target Speech Recasts (BTSR) compared to the Easy Does It for Articulation (EDI) program in improving speech ...

4. withpower.com withpower.com/trial/phase-deafness-3-2025-1c59b

Speech Therapy for Hearing Loss (Project PAIR Trial) Trial Overview The study is testing the effectiveness of parents helping their kids with speech exercises at home (Broad Target Speech Recast), along with ...

5. pubs.asha.org pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2023_AJSLP-23-00244

Preparing Student Clinicians to Provide Recast Therapy on ... On average, student clinicians provided 30 targeted recasts to each child during each intervention session. They provided a greater number of ...

6. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10712350/

Effects of a naturalistic intervention on the speech ... Scherer (1999) assessed the effects of EMT on a set of broad speech recasts for three children with cleft palate. No specific sounds were ...

7. michsafetyconference.org michsafetyconference.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Speech-Communication-with-Hearing-Protectiors-Tues-145-pm-Kearney.pdf

Speech Communication with Hearing Protectors Wearing hearing protectors can disrupt this natural phenomenon by reducing the noise reaching the talker's ears and by altering the auditory feedback from the.

8. pubs.aip.org pubs.aip.org/asa/jasa/article/152/3/1528/2838933/The-effect-of-hearing-protection-worn-by-talker

The effect of hearing protection worn by talker and/or target ... Speech production while wearing hearing protectors poses significant challenges due to their occlusion effect and disruption of the Lombard effect.

9. journals.plos.org journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0280240

The effects of hearing protection devices on spatial awareness ... This study examined the effects of hearing protection and simulated NIHL on spatial awareness in ten normal hearing subjects.

10. pubs.asha.org pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/1059-0889%282003/018%29

Evaluating the Benefit of Speech Recoding Hearing Aids in ... Frequency-lowering hearing aids using dynamic speech recoding (DSR) technology have been proposed as a possible means to achieve full speech audibility.