AAPS-4

The Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale, Fourth Edition (AAPS-4) is a comprehensive tool designed to assess and diagnose speech articulation disorders. The test can help guide SLPs toward a more accurate evaluation and personalized intervention plan for their clients.

Proficiency with articulation of speech sounds is paramount to effective communication. Individuals with articulation disorders often face challenges in clearly expressing themselves, which can lead to academic and social difficulties.

Speech therapists who work with children frequently work with clients who have articulation disorders. Speech sound disorders such as articulation disorders and phonological disorders are common, with the prevalence being 8 to 9 percent in young children.

Speech-language pathologists play a critical role in identifying and treating articulation disorders. The AAPS-4 can effectively help with this, and here we’ll provide therapists with a guide on understanding and using this assessment in Speech Therapy.  

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Understanding speech articulation disorders

Speech articulation refers to the ability to accurately and intelligibly produce speech sounds. Articulation is a fundamental aspect of effective communication. Intelligibility (how well others understand one’s speech) impacts an individual’s ability to effectively participate in social interactions and academic tasks.

Common speech articulation disorders include substitutions, omissions, distortions, and additions of speech sounds. Patterns of sound substitutions that children use to simplify speech as they are learning to talk are known as phonological processes.

The use of these speech sound disorders makes it difficult for others to understand an individual. That can have negative impacts on the individual’s self esteem and interpersonal relationships.

Speech therapists play a critical role in identifying and addressing speech articulation disorders. SLPs complete standardized assessments during evaluations to diagnose articulation disorders. They are also responsible for developing and implementing effective interventions to improve the client’s speech articulation skills.

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Introduction to the Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale, Fourth Edition

The AAPS-4 is a standardized assessment tool that is designed to provide a quick and  reliable measure of an individual’s articulation and phonology. Through this, the assessment can help speech therapists identify clients with speech articulation difficulties that may benefit from speech therapy services.

The fourth edition of the AAPS is the most recent, up-to-date version of the assessment. It reflects updates that align with the most recent research and clinical insights into speech articulation. This version also includes enhancements to the assessment’s reliability and validity.

Updates included in this version include:

• 3 tests in one assessment: Word Articulation, Sentence Articulation, and Phonology

• New normative data

• Extension of the standardized age range to 21 years, 11 months

• A modified scoring system with improve effectiveness

• 5 optional tasks for informing the development of a treatment plan

• Guidance for scoring with dialectal variations

• Engaging, full-color illustrations

• Digital stimulus images

• WPS Online Evaluation System offers a free online scoring and report generation

Standardized tools such as the AAPS-4 offer an objective measurement for the assessment of specific skills within the areas of speech and language. This provides therapists with a consistent and reliable method of diagnosis, which is critical for developing effective intervention strategies. 

How AAPS-4 works

SLPs can administer one or both of the Word Articulation and Sentence Articulation tests within the AAPS-4, as needed.

The Phonology test is coded by the SLP based on the client’s speech productions during the Word Articulation administration.

• Word articulation: The clinician presents the client with the picture stimulus on the test easel. The client names the word, imitates the clinician, or reads the word. The SLP records their production in the word and sentence articulation record form. The productions can also be coded for 11 phonological error patterns on the Phonology Coding Form available.

• Sentence articulation: The SLP presents single words that are embedded in simple sentences from the Word Articulation test. The client will either repeat after the clinician or read the sentence themself. The SLP will record the client’s productions of sounds at the sentence level.

Benefits of AAPS-4 in speech therapy

With the updates included in the AAPS-4, this assessment offers SLPs a more accurate understanding of a client’s proficiency in accurately producing speech sounds at the single word and sentence level. This can help the clinician more accurately diagnose an articulation disorder or phonological disorder.

The digital scoring option available for free through the WPS Online Evaluation System scores the assessment and automatically generates a score report that includes item discrepancy analysis.

By examining these results, the SLP can develop a customized treatment plan for a client that addresses the specific sounds that are difficult to produce. Sounds that the client may be stimulable for producing, as reflected on the AAPS-4, can be considered when choosing customized therapy strategies.

For example, if the client is stimulable for producing one glottal sound, like /k/, the clinician may target the /g/ sound in therapy if the client is not producing it accurately. 

As therapy progresses, the AAPS-4 can serve as a reliable, objective tool for tracking a client’s improvement towards accurate speech articulation. Data can be obtained through the AAPS-4 at various time increments prior to and throughout the course of treatment. Comparing this data enables therapists to modify intervention strategies as needed and update goals.