DEMSS excerpt 1.pdf
Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill (DEMSS) Manual
by
Edythe A. Strand, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Emeritus Professor, Mayo College of Medicine
Emeritus Consultant, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota
Affiliate Professor, University of Washington
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
Seattle, Washington
and
Rebecca J. McCauley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Department of Speech and Hearing Science
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Contents
- About the Online Materials
- About the Authors
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1 Overview of the Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill (DEMSS)
- Introduction
- Intended Purpose of the DEMSS
- Rationale
- Chapter 2 Specific Scoring and Instructions
- Specific Scoring Timing and Instructions
- Cueing Hierarchy
- Scoring Examples
- Chapter 3 Interpreting the DEMSS
- Interpreting DEMSS Results in the Context of a Comprehensive Battery
- Using the DEMSS Score for Diagnostic Decisions
- Chapter 4 Overview of the DEMSS
Introduction
This chapter provides potential users of the Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skill (DEMSS) with the rationale for its development and information regarding its intended purpose. Descriptions of the target population, content, and administration times expected for its use are also provided.
Intended Purpose of the DEMSS
The primary purpose of the DEMSS is to aid clinicians in differential diagnosis of speech sound disorders (SSDs) in children 3 years of age and older who may be quite impaired in their speech production. It is not intended for children under 3 years of age because its reliability and validity were not examined for children that young.
Rationale
The DEMSS was motivated by the need for a criterion-referenced tool for children who are young and/or severely speech impaired, as well as a dynamic tool to facilitate judgments of severity and prognosis and to better facilitate treatment planning.
Overview of the DEMSS
The DEMSS provides a criterion-referenced measure that enables clinicians to look for evidence of difficulties in praxis, or motor planning and programming, for speech. Identification of those difficulties can prove crucial to effective intervention planning because such difficulties are thought to require special intervention strategies.
Table 1.1. Typical Assessment Components for Speech Sound Disorders
| Task | Appropriate for |
|---|---|
| History | All children |
| Language sample | All children (include a description of nonverbal communication attempts) |
| Phonetic and phonemic inventories | All children |
| Receptive and expressive language testing | All children (choice of specific measures based on developmental and language level) |
| Articulation tests or measures of phonologic performance | Children who have at least a rudimentary speech sound inventory and can name pictures |
| Structural-functional examination | All children |
| Examine oral nonverbal praxis | Children who can attempt direct imitation of volitional nonspeech oral movement tasks |
| Motor speech examination | Children who can attempt direct imitation of at least simple (consonant-vowel [CV]) words or phrases and for whom there is a question of deficits beyond simple speech delay |
Observations of Speech Characteristics
Dynamic assessment allows observation of behaviors that might not be seen in spontaneous speech. This sequence of clinician cues and child responses contrasts with static assessment.
Severity and Prognosis
The potential to better judge severity and prognosis is one important benefit of using dynamic assessment. Observing a child’s responses to cueing can provide evidence regarding the severity of their speech disorder.
Treatment Planning
The DEMSS supports treatment planning by highlighting types of cues that help a child improve performance and influencing choices of early stimulus sets based on errors observed during the assessment.
Excerpted from Dynamic Evaluation of Motor Speech Skills (DEMSS) Manual by Edythe A. Strand, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, and Rebecca J. McCauley, Ph.D., CCC-SLP.