THE CAPABILITY-FOCUS TREATMENT FRAMEWORK FOR CHILD SPEECH DISORDERS

The goals of this report are to describe a treatment framework for chi ld speech disorders, to summarize findings on the predictive validity of the framework, and to stimulate discussion of associated treatment issues. Since 1984, the capability-focus treatment framework has been used in a university speech clinic by over 200 student clinicians who treated approximately 260 preschool children with speech delay. The fr amework reflects a treatment philosophy that has been readily endorsed by student clinicians and clinical instructors for its efficacy but i s challenging to document because of measurement constraints on the co nstructs of capability and focus. We describe theoretical and clinical foundations of the capability-focus framework, review findings from t hree studies using discriminant function and relative risk analyses, a nd discuss associated issues in measurement, theory, and clinical prac tice.