Published as Cialdella, L., Kabakoff, H., Preston, J. L., Dugan, S., Spencer, C., Boyce, S., Tiede, M., Whalen, D. H., & McAllister, T. (2020). Auditory-perceptual acuity in rhotic misarticulation: baseline characteristics and treatment response. *Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics*. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2020.1739749
**Abstract**
The rhotic sound /r/ is one of the latest-emerging sounds in English, and many children receive treatment for residual errors affecting /r/ that persist past the age of 9. Auditory- perceptual abilities of children with residual speech errors are thought to be different from their typically developing peers. This study examined auditory-perceptual acuity in children with residual speech errors affecting /r/ and the relation of these skills to production accuracy, both before and after a period of treatment incorporating visual biofeedback. Identification of items along an /r/-/w/ continuum was assessed prior to treatment, and /r/ production accuracy was acoustically measured from standard /r/ stimulability probes elicited before and after treatment in 59 children aged 9-15 with residual speech errors (RSE) affecting /r/. Forty-eight age-matched controls who completed the same auditory-perceptual task served as a comparison group. It was hypothesized that children with RSE would show lower auditory-perceptual acuity than typically developing speakers, that higher auditory-perceptual acuity would be associated with more accurate production before treatment, and that auditory-perceptual acuity would serve as a significant mediator of treatment response. Results indicated that typically developing children have more acute perception of the /r/-/w/ contrast than children with RSE. Contrary to our hypothesis, baseline auditory-perceptual acuity for /r/ did not predict baseline production severity. For the relationship between baseline auditory-perceptual acuity and response to biofeedback treatment targeting /r/, there was an interaction between auditory-perceptual acuity and gender, such that higher auditory-perceptual acuity was associated with greater treatment response in female, but not male, participants.
