Życie akademickie osób jąkających się w perspektywie społecznego modelu niepełnosprawności i koncepcji structural vulnerability

Stuttering is a speech disorder that affects approximately 50 million people worldwide. It makes everyday life difficult not only for children but also for adults. In psychology and speech therapy the social aspects of stuttering are emphasized, but so far this problem has not been studied in the context of academic life. My research is devoted to this issue in Poland I analyze the academic life of people who stutter through the prism of the social model of disability, the category of structural vulnerability, and exclusion. This study revealed the orality of the universities and a number of academic traditions based on well-established practices and social structures that make stuttering students and academic teachers vulnerable or socially disabled.

Distinct patterns of speech disorder in early-onset and late-onset de-novo Parkinson’s disease

Substantial variability and severity of dysarthric patterns across Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients may reflect distinct phenotypic differences. We aimed to compare patterns of speech disorder in early-onset PD (EOPD) and late-onset PD (LOPD) in drug-naive patients at early stages of disease. Speech samples were acquired from a total of 96 participants, including two subgroups of 24 de-novo PD patients and two subgroups of 24 age- and sex-matched young and old healthy controls. The EOPD group included patients with age at onset below 51 (mean 42.6, standard deviation 6.1) years and LOPD group patients with age at onset above 69 (mean 73.9, standard deviation 3.0) years. Quantitative acoustic vocal assessment of 10 unique speech dimensions related to respiration, phonation, articulation, prosody, and speech timing was performed. Despite similar perceptual dysarthria severity in both PD subgroups, EOPD showed weaker inspirations (p = 0.03), while LOPD was characterized by decreased voice quality (p = 0.02) and imprecise consonant articulation (p = 0.03). In addition, age-independent occurrence of monopitch (p < 0.001), monoloudness (p = 0.008), and articulatory decay (p = 0.04) was observed in both PD subgroups. The worsening of consonant articulation was correlated with the severity of axial gait symptoms (r = 0.38, p = 0.008). Speech abnormalities in EOPD and LOPD share common features but also show phenotype-specific characteristics, likely reflecting the influence of aging on the process of neurodegeneration. The distinct pattern of imprecise consonant articulation can be interpreted as an axial motor symptom of PD.

The importance of game technology in developing the word formation skills of children with preschool speech disorder

Game technology has been identified as a means to developing the Word Formation Skills of Children with Preschool Speech Disorder. The purpose of the article was to analyze the psychological and pedagogical conditions of word-formation skills for Kazakh-speaking preschool children with speech disorders on the basis of learning theories and contemporary approaches. To achieve the set aim, we have studied psychophysiological peculiarities of preschool children with speech disorder. We have allocated the most significant learning theories and approaches, which promote the assimilation of word-formation. We have come to understand that the indicators of speech development of many modern Kazakh-speaking preschoolers do not correspond to the age norm, which is influenced by word-formation operations. For Kazakh-speaking preschool children with speech disorders it is rather difficult to distinguish elementary forms as the original word, consisting of a stem and a derivative by including diminutive-affectionate suffixes. Key words: Kazakh-speaking preschool children, psychological and pedagogical conditions, learning theories, approaches, word-formation, speech games

Speech disorders in preschool children in Republic of North Macedonia – cross sectional study

Background Speech communication is a complex process based on the function of the central nervous system, and also on speech mechanisms conditioned and controlled by auditory perception, verbal memory, intellectual activity and peripheral speech apparatus. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the most common phonological articulation disorders in preschool children, from 4-6 years old. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted during 2018 year on a representative sample of 550 preschool children aged 4 - 6 years, who attend preschool institutions-kindergartens in the city of Skopje. The study used standardized articulation tests: the Global Articulation Test (GAT) and the Triple Test (vocals, plasia, africative, fricative, nasal, and lateral), and a questionnaire filled out by a social worker at the kindergarten for socioeconomic status and the child's health condition. Results Using GAT, we found that 260 (47.3%) children didn't have a phonological articulation disorders, and 290 (52.7%) had disorders. The analysis of gender-based data showed a higher percentage of speech disorders in 57% of boys and 46.9% of girls. The highest percentage of speech disorder is sigmatism with 24.5% in boys and 20.4% in girls, rhotachism was found in 17.8% in boys and 16.5% in girls. Lambdacism with 8.3% was found in boys and 4.2% in girls. A mixed form (sigmatism, rotacism, and lambdacism) was also found in 2.4% of boys and 3.5% of girls. Conclusions The prevalence of phonological articulation disorders in preschool children is 52.7%, 57.9% in boys and 46.9% in girls, or every second child in kindergarden at age 4-6 years has speech disorder. These findings indicate that the treatment of speech disorders should be started in appropriate services as soon as possible, because early detection and treatment of speech disorders enable to child normal intellectual development. Key messages Speech disorders are important public health issue because these children will require in some cases emotional and behavioral support, not only speech-related intervention. The treatment of speech disorders should be started in appropriate services because early detection and treatment of speech disorders gives the child more confidence to build his intellect.

Performance of Bimanual Finger Coordination Tasks in Speakers Who Stutter

Stuttering is a neurodevelopmental speech disorder characterized by the symptoms of speech repetition, prolongation, and blocking. Stuttering-related dysfluency can be transiently alleviated by providing an external timing signal such as a metronome or the voice of another person. Therefore, the existence of a core motor timing deficit in stuttering has been speculated. If this is the case, then motoric behaviors other than speech should be disrupted in stuttering. This study examined motoric performance on four complex bimanual tasks in 37 adults who stutter and 31 fluent controls. Two tasks utilized bimanual rotation to examine motor dexterity, and two tasks used the bimanual mirror and parallel tapping movements to examine timing control ability. Video-based analyses were conducted to determine performance accuracy and speed. The results showed that individuals who stutter performed worse than fluent speakers on tapping tasks but not on bimanual rotation tasks. These results suggest stuttering is associated with timing control for general motor behavior.

Stuttering after Intravenous Anesthesia: A Case Report

Stuttering is a form of speech disorder characterized by involuntary prolongation and repetition of sound, words, syllables or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks. We report a case of a healthy twenty-six-year-old male patient without significant past history, who underwent short intravenous anesthesia for incision and drainage for perianal abscess. Postoperatively, the patient presented with prominent stuttering after six hours of surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of stuttering following short intravenous anesthesia without any airway manipulation. He was diagnosed with a functional speech disorder after excluding organic causes. His speech eventually normalized with six weeks of intensive speech therapy. This event posed a significant challenge for the surgical and anesthesia team to find the potential cause, to plan further management, and lead to two days prolongation of hospital stay.