Conducting the maximum sound prolongation task:
Ask the child to take a deep breath and make the /a/ sound, at a comfortable volume, for as long as possible, until they run out of air (Boone et al., 2010). It is encouraged that you model the task to the child before the child attempts the task. Ask the child to attempt this task two times and report the maximum recorded time. Literature suggests three attempts can be recorded to capture maximum phonation (Boone et al., 2010), however our study implemented two attempts.
Conducting the maximum repetition rate task:
Ask the child to take a deep breath and, in one breath, produce the respective syllable or syllable combination repeatedly as quickly and as long as they can (Diepeveen et al., 2019). For example, you could say, ‘Take a big breath and then say papapapapapa as fast as you can. Keep going until you need to take another breath’. Before conducting the assessment, model the task for the child. Report the quickest and most accurate sequence (Thoonen et al., 1996).
Often the assessment is conducted starting with the monosyllabic sequences and increases in complexity to bisyllabic and trisyllabic sequences (Thoonen et al., 1996). It is recommended where possible that attempts are recorded and analysed via programmes such as PRAAT (cf. Diepeveen et al., 2019) as perceptual analysis may lack accuracy (Gadesmann & Miller, 2008).
