scholarly journals The mental representation of sounds in speech sound disorders

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soujanya Pathi ◽  
Prakash Mondal
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Tract ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Phonological Representations ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Interface Module ◽  
The Mind ◽  
System Mapping ◽  
Specialized System

AbstractThe objective of this study is to investigate facets of the human phonological system in an attempt to elucidate the special nature of mental representations and operations underlying some of the errors in speech sound disorders (SSDs). After examining different theories on the mental representations of sounds and their organization in SSDs, we arrive at the conclusion that the existing elucidations on the phonological representations do not suffice to explain some distinctive facets of SSDs. Here, we endorse a hypothesis in favor of representationalism but offer an alternative conceptualization of the phonological representations (PR). We argue that the PR is to be understood in terms of a phonological base that holds information about a segment’s acoustic structure, and which interacts with other levels in the speech sound system in the mind so as to produce a certain sound. We also propose that the PR is connected to an interface module which mediates interactions between the PR and the articulatory system (AS) responsible for the physical manifestation of speech sounds in real time by way of the coordination of activities of speech organs in the vocal tract. We specifically consider different stages of operations within the interface, a specialized system within the cognitive system, which can explain patterns in the SSD data that have so far remained elusive. Positioned between the PR and the AS, the interface module is the heart of the current study. The presence of an interface module is necessitated by the fact that not all errors of SSDs are explainable in terms of structural, motor or even the symbolic misrepresentations at the level of PR. The interface acts as a mediating system mapping sound representations onto articulatory instructions for the actual production of sounds. The interface module can receive, process, and share the phonological inputs with other levels within the speech sound system. We believe an interface module such as ours holds the key to explaining at least certain speech disarticulations in SSDs.

scholarly journals Mismatch Negativity responses to early-acquired sounds in children with speech sound disorders

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alycia Erin Cummings
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Mismatch Negativity ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Speech Sounds ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Phonological Representations

To examine whether children with speech sound disorders (SSD) have sparsely specified phonological representations, the present study recorded neural responses to early-acquired speech sounds in children with SSD and their typically developing controls (ages 4-6 years). Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while children listened to speech syllables containing two early-acquired sounds: /b/ and /d/. While both the typically developing (TD) children and children with SSD demonstrated Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses, the responses of the TD children were significantly larger. The identification of the smaller MMN responses suggests that children with SSD may have less specified phonological representations, which may impact their ability to correctly produce speech sounds. In addition, when all of the children’s data were pooled together, the MMN responses were strongly correlated with measures of speech production. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the MMN reflects acoustic-phonetic processing, which appears to be less developed in children with SSD.

Speech Sound Disorders: What's Motor Got To Do With It?

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria I. Grigos
Keyword(s):  
Speech Sound ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Speech Impairment ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Childhood Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Motor Speech ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Motor Speech Disorder ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Speech Motor

Speech sound disorders (SSDs) are commonly viewed as involving impaired articulation and/or phonological skills. Speech language pathologists working with individuals with (SSDs) assess the articulation of speech sounds and the coordination of articulatory structures with other components of the speech mechanism, including the phonatory, respiratory, and resonatory subsystems. The sound system of the language and the rules that govern how phonemes are combined are equally critical for clinicians to explore. While the terms “articulation” and “phonology” provide clinicians with a framework for classification, children who are broadly identified with (SSDs) may also display characteristics of a motor speech impairment, which can obscure the decision making process with respect to both diagnosis and treatment. One such motor speech disorder is childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). The focus of this paper is to discuss motor speech deficits in children and to review research that aims to distinguish motor speech patterns in children with (SSDs) with and without CAS. We will also address the relationship between emerging speech motor and linguistic skills.

Morphological Awareness Skills of Second- and Third-Grade Students With and Without Speech Sound Disorders

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-616
Author(s):  
Kenn Apel ◽  
Victoria S. Henbest
Keyword(s):  
Word Reading ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Morphological Awareness ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Real Word ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Third Grade Students ◽  
Pseudoword Reading

Purpose Morphological awareness is the ability to consciously manipulate the smallest units of meaning in language. Morphological awareness contributes to success with literacy skills for children with typical language and those with language impairment. However, little research has focused on the morphological awareness skills of children with speech sound disorders (SSD), who may be at risk for literacy impairments. No researcher has examined the morphological awareness skills of children with SSD and compared their skills to children with typical speech using tasks representing a comprehensive definition of morphological awareness, which was the main purpose of this study. Method Thirty second- and third-grade students with SSD and 30 with typical speech skills, matched on age and receptive vocabulary, completed four morphological awareness tasks and measures of receptive vocabulary, real-word reading, pseudoword reading, and word-level spelling. Results Results indicated there was no difference between the morphological awareness skills of students with and without SSD. Although morphological awareness was moderately to strongly related to the students' literacy skills, performance on the morphological awareness tasks contributed little to no additional variance to the children's real-word reading and spelling skills beyond what was accounted for by pseudoword reading. Conclusions Findings suggest that early elementary-age students with SSD may not present with concomitant morphological awareness difficulties and that the morphological awareness skills of these students may not play a unique role in their word-level literacy skills. Limitations and suggestions for future research on the morphological awareness skills of children with SSD are discussed.

Facilitating Parental Involvement in Speech Therapy for Children With Speech Sound Disorders: A Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists' Practices, Perspectives, and Strategies

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1987-1996
Author(s):  
Sherine R. Tambyraja
Keyword(s):  
Parental Involvement ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Speech Therapy ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Speech Sound Disorders ◽  
Speech Sound Disorder ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
School Based ◽  
Homework Completion

Purpose This study investigated the extent to which speech-language pathologists (SLPs) facilitate parents' completion of homework activities for children with speech sound disorder (SSD). In addition, this study explored factors related to more consistent communication about homework completion and strategies considered particularly effective for supporting this element of parental involvement. Method Licensed SLPs serving at least one child with SSD were invited to participate in an online survey. Questions relevant to this study gathered information regarding (a) frequency of communication about homework distribution and follow-up, (b) demographic and workplace characteristics, and (c) an open-ended question about the specific strategies used to support parental involvement and completion of homework activities. Results Descriptive results indicated considerable variability with respect to how frequently SLPs engaged in communication about homework completion, but that school-based SLPs were significantly less likely to engage in this type of follow-up. Strategies considered effective, however, were similar across therapy contexts. Conclusion These results suggest potentially important differences between school-based services and therapy in other contexts with respect to this particular aspect of service provision for children with SSD.

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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