This investigation examined the effectiveness of speech entrainment (SE) on the production accuracy of speech sounds in error in three school-aged children with a severe motor-based speech sound disorder (SSD). SE is a motor-based treatment method and therapeutic strategy that requires individuals to modify speech behaviors via mimicry to align with an audiovisual speech model. Method: Three students between the ages of 5:6 and 8:3 with a severe SSD participated in this nonconcurrent multiple baselines across behaviors design. The dependent variable was the articulation accuracy of three target phonemes within different contexts. Additionally, the percentage of productions correct with SE within the intervention phase was analyzed. The independent variable was the implementation of SE during articulation therapy. Results: All three participants exceeded or met their criteria for the three target behaviors within two to four intervention sessions. Analysis of within-session performance across participants and behaviors demonstrated a 50% decline in audiovisual requirements for two participants. Conclusion: The results of this investigation provide preliminary data that SE is a potentially effective treatment modality. Future research is recommended to fully assess the effectiveness of SE as it applies to the treatment of SSDs across diverse populations.
