Interview with Ron Goldman Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Alabama at Birmingham. Co-Author and Co-Creator of Goldman-Fristo Test of Articulation - 2
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Beck:Hi Dr. Goldman. It's a pleasure to speak with you...I read many of your early materials when I was an undergraduate, back in the late 1970s.Goldman:Hello Dr. Beck. It's a pleasure to work with you, too. Beck:Dr. Goldman, before we get into the new GF-2, I was hoping you'd tell us a little about
Beck:Hi Dr. Goldman. It's a pleasure to speak with you...I read many of your early materials when I was an undergraduate, back in the late 1970s.
Goldman:Hello Dr. Beck. It's a pleasure to work with you, too.
Beck:Dr. Goldman, before we get into the new GF-2, I was hoping you'd tell us a little about your education? Where did you get your doctorate?
Goldman:I earned my M.S. and then my doctorate in Speech Language Pathology (SLP), back in 1960, from the University of Pittsburgh.
Beck:What was your dissertation topic?
Goldman:My dissertation dealt with stuttering and non-stuttering children. We found that the parents of children who stuttered had greater expectations of their children, than the parents of non-stuttering children.
Beck:And if you would, please tell me about your professional positions?
Goldman:Sure, I was at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for over 20 years, as the Training Director at the Sparks Center for Developmental Disorders. Prior to that, I was at Vanderbilt University for about ten years and while I was at Vanderbilt, I helped initiate their Stuttering Clinic.
Beck:Very good. Dr. Goldman, I know you've designed many tests and clinical tools, such as; the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination, the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Auditory Skills Test Battery, the Goldman-Lynch "Sounds and Symbols Development Kit," and the Goldman-Lynch "Listening to the World" tool, and now, 30 years after the original, the Goldman Fristo Test of Articulation - 2 (GFTA-2). That's a substantial list of test materials!
Goldman: Thank you.
Beck:You're welcome. Would you please tell me about the GFTA-2?
Goldman:Sure. The GFTA-2 is a substantial revision of the original GFTA. There are a multitude of revisions and updates, and many brand new things, too. Artwork, new test items, updated items, new sounds, new standardization protocols and normative date across age groups... have all been incorporated into the GLTA-2. Interestingly, there were also some "social issues" from the original GFTA which we have addressed and updated to 2005 standards, in the GFTA-2.
Beck:I recall an interesting note you wrote, from my reading of the GFTA-2. You mentioned articulation abilities are not normally distributed across the population. Please tell me about that?
Goldman:Sure. After a relatively short period of time, children rapidly approach 100 percent articulation ability, so their performance does not continue to change over a long period of time. In fact, by the time the child is about 5 or 6 or 7 years of age, almost all of the sounds are in place.
Beck:That makes sense, so articulation ability would not have a normal statistical distribution pattern across the population?
Goldman:Correct, because they develop articulation so rapidly, they max-out at a very young age.
Beck:What are the most common articulation errors in children?
Goldman:There are some that are common and problematic. For example /r/, /s/, /sh/, /tsh/ and /l/ sounds are common target sounds many children have a hard time with.
Beck:Dr. Goldman, many moms and dads worry about their children not speaking on time. I know the variability of the first word presentation is vast, and could occur perhaps anywhere from 9 to 12 months out to 16 or 18 months...But I wonder, what concerns would come to mind if a child were 22 to 24 months of age, and had not yet said their first word? And of course, that's a bit of a loaded question, because as you know, I am an audiologist!
Goldman:Well, the first thing I'd think of is hearing loss and I would recommend that child be thoroughly tested by an audiologist using otoacoustic emissions, ABR, maybe ASSR, and of course, even tympanometry and reflexes, and any and all behavioral measures possible. So that's the first thing I'd think of in that situation, ruling out hearing loss. But then, if we've recently ruled-out hearing loss, I'd want to complete a speech and language evaluation, too.
Beck:One thing I want to underline, which you just mentioned, is that even if the child passed a universal hearing screening at birth, by age 1 year, the child certainly can develop hearing loss from cytomegalovirus (CMV) and many other etiologies, too, which may not have caused a hearing loss at the time of the screening, but may have manifested soon thereafter.
Goldman:I agree...and going back to the child we were speaking of, they should certainly be speaking by 24 months. That child needs to be seen and evaluated as quickly as possible. We've always recommend intervention as soon as possible, and earlier is always better. In fact, the Sounds and Symbols Development Kit which we mentioned earlier, is an excellent choice to help that child associate words and objects, and that's one of the reasons we developed that tool.
Beck:Before I let you run, I wanted to mention that as I went through the book, I noticed you have a wealth of normative data here, data for males and females, data for all age groups over age 2 years, vast references, an enormous list of collaborators from apparently state in the USA, and a statistical analysis of phonemes....and I believe this is about as thorough as it gets. Congratulations to you on your excellent work and this very meaningful and well-balanced test.
Goldman:Thanks Doug. I'm glad you liked it, and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss it with you.
For more information on the GFTA-2:
Goldman:Hello Dr. Beck. It's a pleasure to work with you, too.
Beck:Dr. Goldman, before we get into the new GF-2, I was hoping you'd tell us a little about your education? Where did you get your doctorate?
Goldman:I earned my M.S. and then my doctorate in Speech Language Pathology (SLP), back in 1960, from the University of Pittsburgh.
Beck:What was your dissertation topic?
Goldman:My dissertation dealt with stuttering and non-stuttering children. We found that the parents of children who stuttered had greater expectations of their children, than the parents of non-stuttering children.
Beck:And if you would, please tell me about your professional positions?
Goldman:Sure, I was at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for over 20 years, as the Training Director at the Sparks Center for Developmental Disorders. Prior to that, I was at Vanderbilt University for about ten years and while I was at Vanderbilt, I helped initiate their Stuttering Clinic.
Beck:Very good. Dr. Goldman, I know you've designed many tests and clinical tools, such as; the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Test of Auditory Discrimination, the Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock Auditory Skills Test Battery, the Goldman-Lynch "Sounds and Symbols Development Kit," and the Goldman-Lynch "Listening to the World" tool, and now, 30 years after the original, the Goldman Fristo Test of Articulation - 2 (GFTA-2). That's a substantial list of test materials!
Goldman: Thank you.
Beck:You're welcome. Would you please tell me about the GFTA-2?
Goldman:Sure. The GFTA-2 is a substantial revision of the original GFTA. There are a multitude of revisions and updates, and many brand new things, too. Artwork, new test items, updated items, new sounds, new standardization protocols and normative date across age groups... have all been incorporated into the GLTA-2. Interestingly, there were also some "social issues" from the original GFTA which we have addressed and updated to 2005 standards, in the GFTA-2.
Beck:I recall an interesting note you wrote, from my reading of the GFTA-2. You mentioned articulation abilities are not normally distributed across the population. Please tell me about that?
Goldman:Sure. After a relatively short period of time, children rapidly approach 100 percent articulation ability, so their performance does not continue to change over a long period of time. In fact, by the time the child is about 5 or 6 or 7 years of age, almost all of the sounds are in place.
Beck:That makes sense, so articulation ability would not have a normal statistical distribution pattern across the population?
Goldman:Correct, because they develop articulation so rapidly, they max-out at a very young age.
Beck:What are the most common articulation errors in children?
Goldman:There are some that are common and problematic. For example /r/, /s/, /sh/, /tsh/ and /l/ sounds are common target sounds many children have a hard time with.
Beck:Dr. Goldman, many moms and dads worry about their children not speaking on time. I know the variability of the first word presentation is vast, and could occur perhaps anywhere from 9 to 12 months out to 16 or 18 months...But I wonder, what concerns would come to mind if a child were 22 to 24 months of age, and had not yet said their first word? And of course, that's a bit of a loaded question, because as you know, I am an audiologist!
Goldman:Well, the first thing I'd think of is hearing loss and I would recommend that child be thoroughly tested by an audiologist using otoacoustic emissions, ABR, maybe ASSR, and of course, even tympanometry and reflexes, and any and all behavioral measures possible. So that's the first thing I'd think of in that situation, ruling out hearing loss. But then, if we've recently ruled-out hearing loss, I'd want to complete a speech and language evaluation, too.
Beck:One thing I want to underline, which you just mentioned, is that even if the child passed a universal hearing screening at birth, by age 1 year, the child certainly can develop hearing loss from cytomegalovirus (CMV) and many other etiologies, too, which may not have caused a hearing loss at the time of the screening, but may have manifested soon thereafter.
Goldman:I agree...and going back to the child we were speaking of, they should certainly be speaking by 24 months. That child needs to be seen and evaluated as quickly as possible. We've always recommend intervention as soon as possible, and earlier is always better. In fact, the Sounds and Symbols Development Kit which we mentioned earlier, is an excellent choice to help that child associate words and objects, and that's one of the reasons we developed that tool.
Beck:Before I let you run, I wanted to mention that as I went through the book, I noticed you have a wealth of normative data here, data for males and females, data for all age groups over age 2 years, vast references, an enormous list of collaborators from apparently state in the USA, and a statistical analysis of phonemes....and I believe this is about as thorough as it gets. Congratulations to you on your excellent work and this very meaningful and well-balanced test.
Goldman:Thanks Doug. I'm glad you liked it, and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss it with you.
For more information on the GFTA-2:
Goldman Fristo 2
Test of Articulation
American Guidance Service (AGS) Inc.
Circile Pines, Minnesota
1-800-328-2567
www.agsnet.com