Anatomical and Neuromuscular Maturation of the Speech Mechanism: Evidence from Acoustic Studies

1976 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Kent
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Spectrographic Analysis ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Scale Factors ◽  
Acoustic Analyses ◽  
Children's Speech

This paper surveys acoustic studies of speech development and discusses the data with respect to the anatomical and neuromuscular maturation of the speech mechanism. The acoustic data on various aspects of speech production indicate that the accuracy of motor control improves with age until adult-like performance is achieved at about 11 or 12 years, somewhat after the age at which speech sound acquisition usually is judged to be complete. Other topics of discussion are (1) problems in the spectrographic analysis of children’s speech, (2) formant scale factors that relate children’s and adults' data, and (3) identification and diagnosis of developmental disorders through acoustic analyses of speech sounds.

scholarly journals Extending Ultrasound Tongue Shape Complexity Measures to Speech Development and Disorders

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Heather Kabakoff ◽  
Daphna Harel ◽  
Mark Tiede ◽  
D. H. Whalen ◽  
Tara McAllister
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Ultrasound Images ◽  
Speech Sound Disorder ◽  
Complexity Measures ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Motor Component ◽  
Speech Structures ◽  
Shape Complexity

Purpose Generalizations can be made about the order in which speech sounds are added to a child's phonemic inventory and the ways that child speech deviates from adult targets in a given language. Developmental and disordered speech patterns are presumed to reflect differences in both phonological knowledge and skilled motor control, but the relative contribution of motor control remains unknown. The ability to differentially control anterior versus posterior regions of the tongue increases with age, and thus, complexity of tongue shapes is believed to reflect an individual's capacity for skilled motor control of speech structures. Method The current study explored the relationship between tongue complexity and phonemic development in children (ages 4–6 years) with and without speech sound disorder producing various phonemes. Using established metrics of tongue complexity derived from ultrasound images, we tested whether tongue complexity incrementally increased with age in typical development, whether tongue complexity differed between children with and without speech sound disorder, and whether tongue complexity differed based on perceptually rated accuracy (correct vs. incorrect) for late-developing phonemes in both diagnostic groups. Results Contrary to hypothesis, age was not significantly associated with tongue complexity in our typical child sample, with the exception of one association between age and complexity of /t/ for one measure. Phoneme was a significant predictor of tongue complexity, and typically developing children had more complex tongue shapes for /ɹ/ than children with speech sound disorder. Those /ɹ/ tokens that were rated as perceptually correct had higher tongue complexity than the incorrect tokens, independent of diagnostic classification. Conclusions Quantification of tongue complexity can provide a window into articulatory patterns characterizing children's speech development, including differences that are perceptually covert. With the increasing availability of ultrasound imaging, these measures could help identify individuals with a prominent motor component to their speech sound disorder and could help match those individuals with a corresponding motor-based treatment approach. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14880039

A Framework of Motoric Complexity: An Investigation in Children With Typical and Impaired Speech Development

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (10) ◽  
pp. 3326-3348
Author(s):  
Julie Case ◽  
Maria I. Grigos
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Childhood Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Motor Variability ◽  
Kinematic Data ◽  
Sound Sequence ◽  
Impaired Speech ◽  
Speech Motor

Introduction The current work presents a framework of motoric complexity where stimuli differ according to movement elements across a sound sequence (i.e., consonant transitions and vowel direction). This framework was then examined in children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), other speech sound disorders (SSDs), and typical development (TD). Method Twenty-four children (CAS, n = 8; SSD, n = 8; TD, n = 8), 5–6 years of age, participated in this study. The children produced words that varied in motoric complexity while transcription, acoustic, and kinematic data were collected. Multidimensional analyses were conducted to examine speech production accuracy, speech motor variability, and temporal control. Results Analyses revealed poorer accuracy, longer movement duration, and greater speech motor variability in children with CAS than TD (across all measures) and other SSDs (accuracy and variability). All children demonstrated greater speech motor variability and longer duration as movement demands increased within the framework of motoric complexity. Diagnostic grouping did not mediate performance on this task. Conclusions Results of this study are believed to reveal gradations of complexity with increasing movement demands, thereby supporting the proposed framework of motoric complexity. This work also supports the importance of considering motoric properties of sound sequences when evaluating speech production skills and designing experimental and treatment stimuli.

Measuring Speech-Sound Learning Using Visual Analog Scaling

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Munson ◽  
Sarah K. Schellinger ◽  
Kari Urberg Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Ambient Language ◽  
Sound Learning ◽  
Children's Speech

The ultimate goal for speech-language pathologists is to align the linguistic behaviors of the clients whom we serve with those of the ambient language of the community. In light of this goal, it is critical that change in speech production is measured accurately. In this article, we review the use of visual analog scaling as a measure of change in children’s speech production. Following a discussion of this tool, the authors consider the clinical utility of this type of measurement.

scholarly journals Strategies of Speech Interaction between Adults and Preschool Children with Typical and Atypical Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Lyakso ◽  
Olga Frolova ◽  
Aleksey Grigorev ◽  
Viktor Gorodnyi ◽  
Aleksandr Nikolaev
Keyword(s):  
Developmental Disorders ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Behavior Strategies ◽  
Speech Interaction ◽  
Phonetic Features ◽  
Atypical Development ◽  
High Level ◽  
Children's Speech

The goal of this research is to study the speech strategies of adults’ interactions with 4–7-year-old children. The participants are “mother–child” dyads with typically developing (TD, n = 40) children, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs, n = 20), Down syndrome (DS, n = 10), and “experimenter–orphan” pairs (n = 20). Spectrographic, linguistic, phonetic, and perceptual analyses (n = 465 listeners) of children’s speech and mothers’ speech (MS) are executed. The analysis of audio records by listeners (n = 10) and the elements of nonverbal behavior on the basis of video records by experts (n = 5) are made. Differences in the speech behavior strategies of mothers during interactions with TD children, children with ASD, and children with DS are revealed. The different strategies of “mother–child” interactions depending on the severity of the child’s developmental disorders and the child’s age are described. The same features of MS addressed to TD children with low levels of speech formation are used in MS directed to children with atypical development. The acoustic features of MS correlated with a high level of TD child speech development do not lead to a similar correlation in dyads with ASD and DS children. The perceptual and phonetic features of the speech of children of all groups are described.

Acoustic Validation of Phonological Knowledge and Its Relationship to Treatment

1990 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann A. Tyler ◽  
Mary Louise Edwards ◽  
John H. Saxman
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Period ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Stop Consonants ◽  
Acoustic Data ◽  
Phonological Knowledge ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Acoustic Analyses ◽  
Production Accuracy

The speech of 4 phonologically disordered children with place and voicing errors affecting initial stop consonants was described through phonological and acoustic analyses. Productions of target voiced and voiceless alveolar and velar stops were transcribed and acoustically analyzed before and after treatment that was administered on a predetermined contrast. Three of the children produced significant, although largely imperceptible, differences in VOT for a given stop when it represented different adult stops. The presence of productive phonological knowledge, as inferred from acoustic data, facilitated rapid generalization of correct production of the treated contrast. In the absence of acoustically determined productive knowledge, a longer treatment period was necessary to achieve a lower level of production accuracy on the same treated contrast. Sources of speech sound errors for the 4 children were hypothesized by comparing the children's underlying representations determined from both acoustic and descriptive phonological data.

scholarly journals Lambdacism, Rhotacism and Sigmatism in Preschool Children: Frequency and Distribution

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-340
Author(s):  
Tatjana Georgievska-Jancheska
Keyword(s):  
Preschool Children ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Articulation Disorder ◽  
The Social ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Articulation Disorders ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Preventive Examination

BACKGROUND: Speech sound appears first in the child’s speech development and is the primary means of expression. Articulation disorders can hinder the comprehensibility of children’s speech. The speech, in turn, can limit the child’s inclusion in the social and educational environment. AIM: To establish frequency and distribution of lambdacism, rhotacism and sigmatism or their combination in preschool children and the frequency and distribution of these articulation disorders among boys and girls. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of data from preventive examination for early diagnosis of impairments of hearing, speech and sounds in preschool children has been carried out. In the selected sample, only the data for children diagnosed with lambdacism, rhotacism, sigmatism or their combination are analysed. The data is statistically examined, represented in tables and figures and analysed descriptively. RESULTS: In the analysed sample, the greater presence of lambdacism was observed before rhotacism and sigmatism. Most commonly, these three types of articulation disorder appear alone, as isolated cases, instead of a combination of two out of the three impairments. They are more common in boys than in girls. CONCLUSION: Timely diagnosis and rehabilitation of lambdacism, rhotacism and sigmatism or their combination in preschool children will enable easier and faster integration of the children in the social and educational environment without leaving lasting consequences

scholarly journals Neural mechanisms underlying speech perception in children with speech sound disorders

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alycia Erin Cummings ◽  
Ying Wu
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Speech Discrimination ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Speech Treatment ◽  
Pre Treatment ◽  
Sound Discrimination ◽  
Children's Speech

Purpose: The underlying mechanisms of speech sound disorder (SSD) are unknown. To examine the relationship between inaccurate phonological representations and speech production ability, neural changes that occurred in conjunction with speech treatment were measured. Method: Twenty preschool-aged children with SSD participated in a traditional speech treatment program targeting a single sound (/ɹ l ʧ θ s k/) for 19 sessions. Event-related potential (ERP) recordings were completed before and after treatment, with approximately three months between sessions. During ERP recordings, two oddball stimulus sets, each containing four consonant-vowel (CV) syllables: one standard (ba/treated sound) and three deviants (ba/treated sound, da, one other CV) were presented. ERP responses indexing speech sound encoding (auditory P1/P2) and speech sound discrimination (mismatch negativity, MMN) were measured.Results: Children’s speech discrimination responses to treated sounds shifted from a positive mismatch response (PMR) pre-treatment to a MMN response post-treatment. Pre-treatment treated sound P1/P2 latencies negatively correlated with the amount of change in speech production accuracy.Conclusions: Children’s speech discrimination responses changed from using developmentally immature neural networks pre-treatment to using more mature networks after treatment, suggesting that children’s phonological representations of treated sounds became more fine-grained and/or detailed after treatment. Interestingly, children’s pre-treatment neural responses correlated with treatment outcomes, providing initial evidence for a biomarker of speech production ability.

Five Reasons Why Nonspeech Oral Motor Exercises (NSOME) Do Not Work

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 109-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory L. Lof ◽  
Maggie Watson
Keyword(s):  
Sound Production ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Development ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Motor Speech ◽  
Therapeutic Technique ◽  
Oral Motor ◽  
Oral Motor Exercises ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Production Problems

Abstract Nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOME) are used often by speech-language pathologists to help children improve their speech sound productions. However, the phonology, articulation, and motor speech development and disorders literature does not support their use. This article presents five reasons (four theoretical, one empirical) why NSOME are not an appropriate therapeutic technique for treating children's speech sound production problems.

Coarticulation as an Indicator of Speech Motor Control Development in Children: An Ultrasound Study

Motor Control ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Zharkova ◽  
Nigel Hewlett ◽  
William J. Hardcastle
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Speech Motor Control ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Speaker Variability ◽  
Ultrasound Study ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Children's Speech ◽  
Speech Motor

There are still crucial gaps in our knowledge about developmental paths taken by children to adult-like speech motor control. Mature control of articulators during speaking is manifested in the appropriate extent of coarticulation (the articulatory overlap of speech sounds). This study compared lingual coarticulatory properties of child and adult speech, using ultrasound tongue imaging. The participants were speakers of Standard Scottish English, ten adults and ten children aged 6–9 years. Consonant-vowel syllables were presented in a carrier phrase. Distances between tongue curves were used to quantify coarticulation. In both adults and children, vowel pairs /a/-/i/ and /a/-/u/ significantly affected the consonant, and the vowel pair /i/-/u/ did not. Extent of coarticulation was significantly greater in the children than in the adults, providing support for the notion that children’s speech production operates with larger units than adults’. More within-speaker variability was found in the children than in the adults.

After Dismissal: Examining the Language, Literacy, and Cognitive Skills of Children With Remediated Speech Sound Disorders

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Farquharson
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Academic Difficulties ◽  
The Public ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Language Literacy

Speech sound disorders are a complex and often persistent disorder in young children. For many children, therapy results in successful remediation of the errored productions as well as age-appropriate literacy and academic progress. However, for some children, while they may attain age-appropriate speech production skills, they later have academic difficulties. For SLPs in the public schools, these children present as challenging in terms of both continuing treatment as well as in terms of caseload management. What happens after dismissal? Have these children truly acquired adequate speech production skills? Do they have lingering language, literacy, and cognitive deficits? The purpose of this article is to describe the language, literacy, and cognitive features of a small group of children with remediated speech sound disorders compared to their typically developing peers.

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