| Sumario: | A case study on a three-year-old speech-delayed child is reported. Evaluation showed that the subject had suffered from developmental delay in speech communication. Behaviour modification and parenting skills training were systematically introduced to increase the subject's language ability, as well as to lower conflicts between the parents and the subject. At the end of the therapy, the subject showed tremendous improvement in language ability. Also, in the process the parents became co-therapists, which enabled the treatment to become a 24-hour-programme. The subject's improvement suggested that behavioural therapy could be a suitable approach for profound speech-delayed cases, for the following reasons. First, behavioural modification is a well-structured programme, which means that improvements and/or problems can be examined objectively. Second, parents can easily learn to be co-therapists, which turns out to be a very important factor for the subjects themselves, especially after they finish formal treatment.
|
|---|