Rationale
Children who do not clearly perceive a particular phoneme in the speech of those around them are missing a wealth of experience with that specific phoneme each day and often have difficulty representing it when they spell, read or write. Identifying that student and the specific phonemes that are misperceived should be the first step to planning remediation. As a test of phoneme identification, the Phoneme Perception Test (PPT-R), a screening test, differs from currently available tests in that it:
- Measures the sensitivity to phonemes at the sentence level (i.e., a level that approximates the rate and context of conversational speech).
- Targets specific phonemes.
The relationship between better oral language skills and better reading and/or writing skills has long intrigued me. To this end, I created a "down and dirty," assessment measure. (It actually was a spin-off of a technique I had been using for remediation.) This measure taps the ability to "perceive" (track) a number of specified phonemes in the context and at the rate that approximated normal speech.
The following review was VERY encouraging. It was written by a Speech/Language Pathologist who reviewed it and was forwarded to me by a thoughtful publisher:
"I've looked over the information on the Phoneme Perception Test (PPT). Let me first state that one of the major difficulties in education is finding out exactly where the break down occurs in a child's processing abilities. Also, what kind of impact does it have on him or her? When I first started to review the material submitted I thought, WOW! Something that could actually pinpoint where the breakdown of processing is going on!
The premise and rationale that Dr. Jerger uses have definite applications in the academic setting. The PPT-R could help to identify specific processing problems in the LD child and guide the remedial plans of the Therapist and Special ED Teachers. This evaluation instrument also focuses on the deficit where normal speech and teaching occur, which is the sentence level. While as a therapist, I may have to start remediation at the isolated sound level, I soon will find myself working with my students at the sentence level. Even if they are not functioning at the sentence level with their speech, their auditory processing skills must. This test could help to redefine the focus of the level of processing problems. Apparently it can be given by the Teacher, Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), Special Ed Teachers and/or Audiologist. I find this to be a major plus."
In summary, most measures assess phoneme processing in isolation, syllables or words. Those that use a sentence format are designed for use by audiologists and do not provide an analysis of specific phoneme errors. If a measure of phoneme processing at the sentence level (i.e., a level that would better approximate the rate and context concerns) could identify specific phonemes as hard to perceive by a child with reading difficulty and be administered by the classroom teacher, it would be useful to then target these sounds and train the child to perceive these sounds at the rate of speech. The PPT-R was designed to meet this need.