Speech Sound-Production Deficits in Children With Visual Impairment: A Preliminary Investigation of the Nature and Prevalence of Coexisting Conditions

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (Spring) ◽  
pp. 33-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Gordon-Pershey ◽  
Diane Hoffman ◽  
Emily Gunderson
2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (11) ◽  
pp. 3714-3726
Author(s):  
Sherine R. Tambyraja ◽  
Kelly Farquharson ◽  
Laura Justice

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which school-age children with speech sound disorder (SSD) exhibit concomitant reading difficulties and examine the extent to which phonological processing and speech production abilities are associated with increased likelihood of reading risks. Method Data were obtained from 120 kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade children who were in receipt of school-based speech therapy services. Children were categorized as being “at risk” for reading difficulties if standardized scores on a word decoding measure were 1 SD or more from the mean. The selected predictors of reading risk included children's rapid automatized naming ability, phonological awareness (PA), and accuracy of speech sound production. Results Descriptive results indicated that just over 25% of children receiving school-based speech therapy for an SSD exhibited concomitant deficits in word decoding and that those exhibiting risk at the beginning of the school year were likely to continue to be at risk at the end of the school year. Results from a hierarchical logistic regression suggested that, after accounting for children's age, general language abilities, and socioeconomic status, both PA and speech sound production abilities were significantly associated with the likelihood of being classified as at risk. Conclusions School-age children with SSD are at increased risk for reading difficulties that are likely to persist throughout an academic year. The severity of phonological deficits, reflected by PA and speech output, may be important indicators of subsequent reading problems.


2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (7) ◽  
pp. 721-737
Author(s):  
H Teffahi ◽  
B Guerin ◽  
A Djeradi

Knowledge of vocal tract area functions is important for the understanding of phenomena occurring during speech production. We present here a new measurement method based on the external excitation of the vocal tract with a known pseudo-random sequence, where the area function is obtained by a linear prediction analysis applied to the cross-correlation between the sequence and the signal measured at the lips. The advantages of this method over methods based on sweep-tones or white noise excitation are (1) a much shorter measurement time (about 100 ms) and (2) the possibility of speech sound production during the measurement. This method has been checked against classical methods through systematic comparisons on a small corpus of vowels. Moreover, it has been verified that simultaneous speech sound production does not perturb significantly the measurements. This method should thus be a very helpful tool for the investigation of the acoustic properties of the vocal tract in various cases for vowels.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie E. Ambrose ◽  
Lauren M. Unflat Berry ◽  
Elizabeth A. Walker ◽  
Melody Harrison ◽  
Jacob Oleson ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of the study was to (a) compare the speech sound production abilities of 2-year-old children who are hard of hearing (HH) to children with normal hearing (NH), (b) identify sources of risk for individual children who are HH, and (c) determine whether speech sound production skills at age 2 were predictive of speech sound production skills at age 3. Method Seventy children with bilateral, mild-to-severe hearing loss who use hearing aids and 37 age- and socioeconomic status–matched children with NH participated. Children's speech sound production abilities were assessed at 2 and 3 years of age. Results At age 2, the HH group demonstrated vowel production abilities on par with their NH peers but weaker consonant production abilities. Within the HH group, better outcomes were associated with hearing aid fittings by 6 months of age, hearing loss of less than 45 dB HL, stronger vocabulary scores, and being female. Positive relationships existed between children's speech sound production abilities at 2 and 3 years of age. Conclusion Assessment of early speech sound production abilities in combination with demographic, audiologic, and linguistic variables may be useful in identifying HH children who are at risk for delays in speech sound production.


2015 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan S. Paley ◽  
George J. Cisneros ◽  
Olivier F. Nicolay ◽  
Etoile M. LeBlanc

ABSTRACT Objective:  To explore the impact of fixed labial orthodontic appliances on speech sound production. Materials and Methods:  Speech evaluations were performed on 23 patients with fixed labial appliances. Evaluations were performed immediately prior to appliance insertion, immediately following insertion, and 1 and 2 months post insertion. Baseline dental/skeletal variables were correlated with the ability to accommodate the presence of the appliances. Results:  Appliance effects were variable: 44% of the subjects were unaffected, 39% were temporarily affected but adapted within 2 months, and 17% of patients showed persistent sound errors at 2 months. Resolution of acquired sound errors was noted by 8 months post–appliance removal. Maladaptation to appliances was correlated to severity of malocclusion as determined by the Grainger’s Treatment Priority Index. Sibilant sounds, most notably /s/, were affected most often. Conclusions:  (1) Insertion of fixed labial appliances has an effect on speech sound production. (2) Sibilant and stopped sounds are affected, with /s/ being affected most often. (3) Accommodation to fixed appliances depends on the severity of malocclusion.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 774-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Cabbage ◽  
Kelly Farquharson ◽  
Jenya Iuzzini-Seigel ◽  
Jennifer Zuk ◽  
Tiffany P. Hogan

Purpose Children with dyslexia have speech production deficits in a variety of spoken language contexts. In this article, we discuss the nature of speech production errors in children with dyslexia, including those who have a history of speech sound disorder and those who do not, to familiarize speech-language pathologists with speech production–specific risk factors that may help predict or identify dyslexia in young children. Method In this tutorial, we discuss the role of a phonological deficit in children with dyslexia and how this may manifest as speech production errors, sometimes in conjunction with a speech sound disorder but sometimes not. We also briefly review other factors outside the realm of phonology that may alert the speech-language pathologist to possible dyslexia. Results Speech-language pathologists possess unique knowledge that directly contributes to the identification and remediation of children with dyslexia. We present several clinical recommendations related to speech production deficits in children with dyslexia. We also review what is known about how and when children with speech sound disorder are most at risk for dyslexia. Conclusion Speech-language pathologists have a unique opportunity to assist in the identification of young children who are at risk for dyslexia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Treutler ◽  
Peter Sörös

Bilingualism and multilingualism are highly prevalent. Non-invasive brain imaging has been used to study the neural correlates of native and non-native speech and language production, mainly on the lexical and syntactic level. Here, we acquired continuous fast event-related FMRI during visually cued overt production of exclusively German and English vowels and syllables. We analyzed data from 13 university students, native speakers of German and sequential English bilinguals. The production of non-native English sounds was associated with increased activity of the left primary sensorimotor cortex, bilateral cerebellar hemispheres (lobule VI), left inferior frontal gyrus, and left anterior insula compared to native German sounds. The contrast German > English sounds was not statistically significant. Our results emphasize that the production of non-native speech requires additional neural resources already on a basic phonological level in sequential bilinguals.


Author(s):  
Margaret M. Kehoe ◽  
Emilie Cretton

Purpose This study examines intraword variability in 40 typically developing French-speaking monolingual and bilingual children, aged 2;6–4;8 (years;months). Specifically, it measures rate of intraword variability and investigates which factors best account for it. They include child-specific ones such as age, expressive vocabulary, gender, bilingual status, and speech sound production ability, and word-specific factors, such as phonological complexity (including number of syllables), phonological neighborhood density (PND), and word frequency. Method A variability test was developed, consisting of 25 words, which differed in terms of phonological complexity, PND, and word frequency. Children produced three exemplars of each word during a single session, and productions of words were coded as variable or not variable. In addition, children were administered an expressive vocabulary test and two tests tapping speech motor ability (oral motor assessment and diadochokinetic test). Speech sound ability was also assessed by measuring percent consonants correct on all words produced by the children during the session. Data were entered into a binomial logistic regression. Results Average intraword variability was 29% across all children. Several factors were found to predict intraword variability including age, gender, bilingual status, speech sound production ability, phonological complexity, and PND. Conclusions Intraword variability was found to be lower in French than what has been reported in English, consistent with phonological differences between French and English. Our findings support those of other investigators in indicating that the factors influencing intraword variability are multiple and reflect sources at various levels in the speech processing system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 206-219
Author(s):  
Monica Gordon-Pershey ◽  
Shannon Zeszut ◽  
Kyle Brouwer

This survey addressed a twofold need: first, research into speech sound productions in children with visual impairments and, second, evidence upon which speech-language pathologists might base interventions for children with visual impairments. Fifteen speech-language pathologists responded to a survey about speech sound productions in caseload children with visual impairments. Respondents reported the speech characteristics of 46 children, their coexisting medical diagnoses and developmental conditions, the nature of their visual impairments, and therapy approaches used. Children and teens with visual impairments demonstrated speech sound production errors. It is not conclusive that errors resulted from having visual impairments. Respondents reported effective speech treatment techniques. This study contributes a detailed report of speech sound productions in children who, despite a diversity of coexisting diagnoses, had visual impairment in common. Findings provide a point of reference regarding speech sound productions in children with visual impairments, as well as efficacious treatments.


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