Mission

The mission of the Speech, Phonology, and Early Articulation for Kids (SPEAK) Lab at University of Montana is to teach kids how to say sounds and sentences to clearly express their needs, wants, and ideas so that they can play and learn. We research and create evidence-based assessments and treatments that will provide speech-language pathologists with new and effective strategies to improve service delivery and help kids learn speech faster.

People & Aims

Dr. Amy Glaspey directs the SPEAK Lab and is Professor in the School of Speech, Language, Hearing, and Occupational Sciences.

Treatment efficacy and efficiency. A gap is present in the research literature regarding the best way to speed children’s learning and improve outcomes when they have a speech sound disorder. We seek to evaluate how dynamic assessment principles may be more actively applied within treatment sessions. We also seek to understand treatment intensity, target selection, and group settings for preschool children.

Test Development. The Glaspey Dynamic Assessment of Phonology Patterns (GDAP) is an innovative assessment that was developed to measure how much help children need to say speech sounds. This test helps SLPs better understand children’s adaptability when they are given scaffolding for sounds spoken in error.

Impact

Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) is the second highest disorder type treated in the education setting (ASHA, 2020) with a prevalence of 8-9% (NIDCD, 2021). SSDs pose detrimental long-term effects on children’s education (including literacy) and health.

Through our work in the SPEAK lab, we can significantly reduce the negative effects of SSD. We develop and use innovative assessments such as the GDAP to help us better understand children’s speech skills. We aim to develop more efficient early intervention approaches that speed the acquisition of speech sounds.

Attention Parents:

We are now recruiting for a New Project in the SPARK Clinic and SPEAK Lab!