Praxis SLP Licensure Exam

After surgical correction of velopharyngeal insufficiency, which type of activity is suitable to address compensatory errors in a child's speech?

1. Articulation placement procedures

2. Velopharyngeal exercises

3. Blowing exercises

4. Further surgical management

The correct answer is: Articulation placement procedures

The choice of articulation placement procedures is particularly suitable for addressing compensatory errors in a child's speech following surgical correction of velopharyngeal insufficiency. After surgery, a child may still use compensatory articulation patterns due to previous adaptations made in response to their speech difficulties. These patterns can include atypical strategies like glottal stops or pharyngeal fricatives that are used to produce speech sounds. Articulation placement procedures focus on teaching and guiding the child in producing sounds correctly and effectively. This involves demonstrating the correct place and manner of articulation, using oral motor feedback, and providing practice opportunities to reinforce proper speech production. Through this targeted approach, clinicians can help the child transition from compensatory to age-appropriate speech strategies, leading to improved articulation and clearer speech. While velopharyngeal exercises could help strengthen the velopharyngeal mechanism and improve resonance, they do not specifically address compensatory articulation errors. Blowing exercises, while beneficial for respiratory support and oral motor skills, do not directly relate to correcting specific speech sound production. Further surgical management may be considered in some cases but is not a direct intervention for correcting speech errors following the initial surgical procedure. Thus, focusing on articulation placement offers the most immediate and effective means