The Use of Real-Time Visual Displays of Speech in the Training of a Profoundly Deaf, Nonspeaking Child: A Case Report

Real-time amplitude contour and spectral displays were used in teaching speech production skills to a profoundly deaf, nonspeaking boy. This child had a visual attention problem, a behavior problem, and a poor academic record. In individual instruction, he was first taught to produce features of speech, for example, friction, nasal, and stop, which are present in vocalizations of 6- to 9-month-old infants, and then to combine these features in syllables and words. He made progress in speech, although sign language and finger spelling were taught at the same time. Speech production skills were retained after instruction was terminated. The results suggest that deaf children are able to extract information about the features of speech from visual displays, and that a developmental sequence should be followed as far as possible in teaching speech production skills to them.