Today the following manuscript was acceptted for publication:
McLeod, S., Kelly, G., Ahmed, B. & Ballard, K. (2023, in press). Equitable access to speech practice for rural Australian children using the SayBananas! mobile game. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.
Here is the abstract
Purpose. To evaluate the effect, usage, and user-experience for SayBananas!, a Mario-style mobile game providing Australian children access to high-dose individualised speech therapy practice.
Method. Participants were 45 rural Australian children with speech sound disorders (SSD) (4;4-10;5 years) with internet access. This mixed-methods study involved: (1) recruitment, (2) eligibility screening, (3) questionnaire, (4) online pre-assessment, (5) SayBananas! intervention using motor learning principles (4 weeks, 10–15 target words) (6) online post-assessment and interview. Usage and performance were automatically monitored.
Result. Most participants were highly engaged with SayBananas! completing a median of 44.71 trials/session (~45% of the 100 trial/session target, range 7-194). After intervention, participants made significant gains on treated words and on formal assessment of percentage of consonants, vowels, and phonemes correct. There was no reliable change for parent-rated intelligibility or children’s feelings about talking. The number of practice sessions was significantly correlated with percent change on treated words. On average, children rated the app as “happy/good/fun” providing detailed drawings of playing SayBananas!. Families provided high ratings of engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and quality.
Conclusion. SayBananas! is a viable and engaging solution for rural Australian children with SSD to gain access to equitable, cost-effective speech practice. The amount of app use was associated with amount of speech production improvement over a 4-week period.
