Question
I gave a young man (age 7y 11 mo) the SSW the other day and he had an interesting response pattern that I hadn't seen before. He would get the LC word incorrect but replace it with the RNC word, e.g. meat sauce meat ball, house fly house work, black board black mail, school bell church bell, ice cream sweet cream etc. He did this nine times. He also had three back-to-back qualifiers. Results were TFM and DEC. Order high/low was abnormal. PS was normal right on the border of normal (17). He could not do the Pitch Pattern Sequence Test. Speech-in-noise results were within normal limits for his age. Three separate individuals filled out an auditory concerns checklist independent of one another, and all three were nearly identical. * problems with phonics * frequently asks for repetition * has difficulty with reading recognition, spelling and writing * demonstrates good reading comprehension but has poor spelling and writing skills. Anyway, I am wondering if anyone else has run into this pattern and if it has any particular implication or significance?
Answer
The response you noted is referred to as the "available word". To explain: The SSW items were designed so that every item represented 3 spondees. For example, "meat sauce base ball" are the 2 obvious spondees, but in addition, "meat ball" that is formed if you drop out the 2 competing words. When people do not know one of the competing words (LC or RC) they can pull the opposite non-competing word to make a spondee (just as your 7-year-old did). Had he missed the RC word he would have said "meat ball base ball". I am delighted that a person uses the available word because obviously this child had no idea what the LC word was (if he took 'meat' for 'base'). If he did not take the available word he might have guessed and gotten some of the 9 LC words correct. Likely the first time the youngster gave an available word he likely looked quizzically at the audiologist. When this happens to me I give them a 'thumbs-up' (if they guessed they might not make an error on the word they missed.
What does this pattern tell us? I don't know. I have always assumed that it was simply an attempt to make a reasonable spondee. You did a very nice job of pulling the information together (primarily DEC and TFM if there is no Type-A). This agrees with what the questionnaire suggests and thus gives you more assurance. If the child has had speech therapy or auditory training (including phonological awareness or intensive phonics) this would help to explain his passing score on PS. If you use the PS Qualifiers to get a Qualitative PS Score you increase your chances of picking up the kids who have had training but are not yet 'cured' of DEC.
Jack Katz has been involved with the study of APD for more than 40 years. He has served as clinician, researcher, writer and teacher of this subject. He has developed diagnostic tests and therapy procedures that are widely used in the US and elsewhere. Eighteen years ago he formulated and researched (with others) an APD category system that has become known as the 'Buffalo Model'. He retired from the University at Buffalo in 2002 and is now devoting much of his time to a private practice providing high quality diagnostic and therapeutic Auditory Processing services in the Kansas City area.
Jack Katz, PhD, CCC-A/SLP
Jack Katz has been involved in the study of central auditory disorders for over five decades. He has developed effective tests and therapy procedures to evaluate and remediate this prevalent problem. He has editied several books on this topic and has written many articles and chapters and has presented on this topic nationally and internationally. He has just completed a book focusing on therapy for APD that will be distributed by Educational Audiology Association. Dr. Katz has spent 50 years developing the SSW test as a measure of central auditory function.
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