Sensitivity evaluation of “CAPP-M” in children with hearing impairment

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the sensitivity of ‘Computerized assessment of Phonological Processes in Malayalam’ (CAPP-M- Merin, 2010) in children with hearing impairment. CAPP-M is a user friendly software developed using Malayalam Articulation Test (MAT; Maya, 1990), which was administered on Malayalam speaking children, in the age range of 3-3.6 years. A total of 20 picture stimuli are included in this tool. While assessing a particular child, the clinician has to listen to the child’s production of the 20 target words one by one and choose any of the four options for each target word provided on the computer screen. At the end of 20 responses, CAPP-M provides a list of processes ranked in descending order i.e., from the most occurring to the least occurring process in a single child’s utterances. This tool assesses eight frequently occurring phonological processes in normal children. A mean correlation of 65% was obtained for the subject’s productions and the possible productions listed in the software, for six out of eight children. For the remaining two children, the mean correlation score was 45%. The results revealed that for the children with hearing impairment considered in the study, overall 60% of their productions matched with those of the templates in CAPP-M. The phonological processes identified in children with hearing impairment from the most occurring to the least occurring were cluster reduction, idiosyncratic productions, affrication, stopping, palatalization, and metathesis.