The Role of Strength Training in Speech Sound Disorders

Strengthening of the articulators is commonly used to help children improve sound production accuracy, even though the relationship between weakness and speech function remains unclear. Clinicians considering the use of strength training must weigh both the theoretical foundations and the evidence supporting this practice. Widely accepted principles of strength training are available to guide the evaluation of strength training programs. Training specificity requires that exercises closely match the targeted functional outcome. The exercises must overload the muscles beyond their typical use, and this overload must be systematically progressed over time. Finally, the strength training program must incorporate adequate time between exercise sessions to allow for recovery. The available research does not support the position that nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOMEs) targeting increased strength is beneficial for improving speech accuracy. An example of a speech-based strengthening program is provided to illustrate how appropriate training principles could lead to more positive outcomes. A much larger body of research is needed to determine the conditions under which strength training is most appropriately applied in the treatment of childhood speech disorders.

from Seminars in Speech and Language

The Role of Strength Training in Speech Sound Disorders

Strengthening of the articulators is commonly used to help children improve sound production accuracy, even though the relationship between weakness and speech function remains unclear. Clinicians considering the use of strength training must weigh both the theoretical foundations and the evidence supporting this practice. Widely accepted principles of strength training are available to guide the evaluation of strength training programs. Training specificity requires that exercises closely match the targeted functional outcome. The exercises must overload the muscles beyond their typical use, and this overload must be systematically progressed over time. Finally, the strength training program must incorporate adequate time between exercise sessions to allow for recovery. The available research does not support the position that nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOMEs) targeting increased strength is beneficial for improving speech accuracy. An example of a speech-based strengthening program is provided to illustrate how appropriate training principles could lead to more positive outcomes. A much larger body of research is needed to determine the conditions under which strength training is most appropriately applied in the treatment of childhood speech disorders.

from Seminars in Speech and Language

Intra-speaker variability in palatometric measures of consonant articulation

Electropalatometry is a useful clinical and research tool for measuring linguapalatal contact. The goal of this study was to examine intra-speaker variability in performance. Twenty individuals spoke VCV nonsense words using a schwa in the initial position, the 15 palatal consonants, and three corner vowels, //, /i/, /u/. A variability index was created to examine speaker consistency.

Different aspects of articulation (i.e. place, manner, voicing, coarticulation) were compared. Significant differences for variability were found for place of articulation in the /i/ vowel context and for manner of articulation in the // vowel context. Also for the // vowel, significant differences were found between the commonly misarticulated /l/, /r/, and /s/. The data reveal differences in production variability across sounds within an individual, as well as from one speaker to another. This knowledge of typical performance may guide the interpretation of data from disordered speakers in future studies.

from the Journal of Communication Disorders

The use of electropalatography (EPG) in the assessment and treatment of motor speech disorders in children with Down’s syndrome: Evidence from two case studies

Conclusions: Findings from these two case studies demonstrate the potential utility of EPG in both the assessment and treatment of speech motor disorders in DS.

from Developmental Neurorehabilitation

Revisiting Jarrod: Applications of gestural phonology theory to the assessment and treatment of speech sound disorder

Abstract
Gestural phonology theory questions the dominance of phonological explanations of speech sound disorder in light of technological advances in the measurement of speech articulation. A gestural phonology approach investigates the movements of articulators rather than higher level phonological forms, suggesting that many speech sound disorders are the result of difficulties generating and coordinating articulatory gestures. This has significant implications for assessment and treatment, as new methods are required to investigate articulatory gestures. This article revisits the case of Jarrod, who was the feature of a special issue of Advances in Speech-Language Pathology 8(3) which provided perspectives on a child with unintelligible speech. Jarrod’s assessment data is re-evaluated in light of gestural phonology theory and technological advancements in assessment of speech. Non-standard assessment techniques such as pause distribution analysis, vowel quadrilateral and spectral moment analysis are applied to investigate articulatory movement. Results indicate difficulties with fine force control, coupled with difficulties with timing of articulation, resulting in marked unintelligibility. Treatment recommendations based on these results are presented, incorporating the principles of gestural phonology and dynamic systems theory.

from the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

A systematic review of the association between childhood speech impairment and participation across the lifespan

Abstract
Speech impairment of unknown origin is one of the most common communication impairments in childhood. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify limitations in life activities that may be associated with speech impairment, through analysing the findings of papers published in the past 10 years. Domains from the Activities and Participation component of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health were used as search terms, and resulted in 57 papers being identified. Findings from each paper were reviewed in terms of the association between speech impairment and Activity Limitations and/or Participation Restrictions as defined by the ICF. The systematic review revealed that speech impairment in childhood may be associated with the following Activity Limitations and/or Participation Restrictions: learning to read/reading, learning to write/writing, focusing attention and thinking, calculating, communication, mobility, self-care, relating to persons in authority, informal relationships with friends/peers, parent-child relationships, sibling relationships, school education, and acquiring, keeping and terminating a job.

from the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology

Kinematic investigation of lingual movement in words of increasing length in acquired apraxia of speech

The current study aimed to use electromagnetic articulography (EMA) to investigate the effect of increasing word length on lingual kinematics in acquired apraxia of speech (AOS). Tongue-tip and tongue-back movement was recorded for five speakers with AOS and a concomitant aphasia (mean age = 53.6 years; SD = 12.60) during target consonant production (i.e. /t, s, k/ singletons; /kl, sk/ clusters), for one and two syllable stimuli. The results obtained for each of the participants with AOS were individually compared to those obtained by a control group (n = 12; mean age = 52.08 years; SD = 12.52). Results indicated that the participants with AOS exhibited longer movement durations and, in some instances, larger tongue movements during consonant singletons and consonant cluster constituents embedded within mono- and multisyllabic utterances. Despite this, two participants with AOS exhibited a word length effect that was comparable with the control speakers, and possibly indicative of an intact phonological system.

from Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics

Kinematic analysis of articulatory coupling in acquired apraxia of speech post-stroke

Conclusions: The reduction in functional movement independence might have reflected an attempt to simplify articulatory control or a decrease in the ability to differentially control distinct articulatory regions.

from Brain Injury

From Phonemes to Articulatory Codes: An fMRI Study of the Role of Broca’s Area in Speech Production

We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neuroanatomical substrates of phonetic encoding and the generation of articulatory codes from phonological representations. Our focus was on the role of the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and in particular whether the LIFG plays a role in sublexical phonological processing such as syllabification or whether it is directly involved in phonetic encoding and the generation of articulatory codes. To answer this question, we contrasted the brain activation patterns elicited by pseudowords with high– or low–sublexical frequency components, which we expected would reveal areas related to the generation of articulatory codes but not areas related to phonological encoding. We found significant activation of a premotor network consisting of the dorsal precentral gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus bilaterally, and the supplementary motor area for low– versus high–sublexical frequency pseudowords. Based on our hypothesis, we concluded that these areas and in particular the LIFG are involved in phonetic and not phonological encoding. We further discuss our findings with respect to the mechanisms of phonetic encoding and provide evidence in support of a functional segregation of the posterior part of Broca’s area, the pars opercularis.

from Cerebral Cortex

Vocal Tract in Female Registers—A Dynamic Real-Time MRI Study

The area of vocal registers is still unclarified. In a previous investigation, dynamic real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is able to produce up to 10 frames per second, was successfully applied for examinations of vocal tract modifications in register transitions in male singers. In the present study, the same MRI technique was used to study vocal tract shapes during four professional young sopranos’ lower and upper register transitions. The subjects were asked to sing a scale on the vowel /a/ across their transitions. The transitions were acoustically identified by four raters. In neither of these transitions, clear vocal tract changes could be ascertained. However, substantial changes, that is, widening of the lips, opening of the jaw, elevation of the tongue dorsum, and continuous widening of the pharynx, were observed when the singers reached fundamental frequencies that were close to the frequency of the first formant of the vowel sung. These findings suggest that in these subjects register transition was not primarily the result of modifications of the vocal tract.

from the Journal of Voice

The Role of Strength Training in Speech Sound Disorders

Strengthening of the articulators is commonly used to help children improve sound production accuracy, even though the relationship between weakness and speech function remains unclear. Clinicians considering the use of strength training must weigh both the theoretical foundations and the evidence supporting this practice. Widely accepted principles of strength training are available to guide the evaluation of strength training programs. Training specificity requires that exercises closely match the targeted functional outcome. The exercises must overload the muscles beyond their typical use, and this overload must be systematically progressed over time. Finally, the strength training program must incorporate adequate time between exercise sessions to allow for recovery. The available research does not support the position that nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOMEs) targeting increased strength is beneficial for improving speech accuracy. An example of a speech-based strengthening program is provided to illustrate how appropriate training principles could lead to more positive outcomes. A much larger body of research is needed to determine the conditions under which strength training is most appropriately applied in the treatment of childhood speech disorders.

from Seminars in Speech and Language

The Instrumental Phase of the Voice Program at the Utrecht School of Acting

What skills does a performer need in order to be able to say their lines on stage? What is the input of an actor to be audible and have a lively voice filled with imagination? To train the professional performer, we need to know the purpose and the way to arrive there.

from Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica

Requests for clarification and children’s speech responses: Changing `pasghetti’ to `spaghetti’

from Child Language Teaching and Therapy

One way children improve their pronunciation of monosyllabic words is via clarification requests, specifically, the adult saying an incorrect production that differs from the child’s incorrect production (Weiner and Ostrowski, 1979). The aim of this study was to investigate children’s responses to clarification requests when producing polysyllabic words (three or more syllables). Six typically developing children, aged 4;1 to 4;9 years, produced polysyllabic words during both a single word task and in conversational speech. When participants produced polysyllabic words incorrectly, a predetermined clarification request was used. Following this request, participants improved in their production of polysyllabic words, suggesting that clarification requests may have therapeutic applications.

Requests for clarification and children’s speech responses: Changing `pasghetti’ to `spaghetti’

from Child Language Teaching and Therapy

One way children improve their pronunciation of monosyllabic words is via clarification requests, specifically, the adult saying an incorrect production that differs from the child’s incorrect production (Weiner and Ostrowski, 1979). The aim of this study was to investigate children’s responses to clarification requests when producing polysyllabic words (three or more syllables). Six typically developing children, aged 4;1 to 4;9 years, produced polysyllabic words during both a single word task and in conversational speech. When participants produced polysyllabic words incorrectly, a predetermined clarification request was used. Following this request, participants improved in their production of polysyllabic words, suggesting that clarification requests may have therapeutic applications.

Accuracy Assessment for AG500, Electromagnetic Articulograph

from the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research

Purpose: The goal of this paper was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the AG500, an electromagnetic device developed recently to register articulatory movements in three dimensions (Carstens Medizinelectronik, Lenglern, Germany). This technology seems to have unprecedented capabilities to provide rich information about time-varying positions of articulators. However, strengths and weaknesses of the system need to be better understood before the device is used for speech research.

Method: Evaluations of the sensor positions over time were obtained during (1) movements of the calibration device, (2) manual movements of sensors in a cartridge within the recording field of the cube, and (3) various speech tasks.

Results: Results showed a median error to be under 0.5 mm across different types of recordings. The maximum error often ranged between 1 to 2 mm. The magnitude of error depended somewhat on the task but largely on the location of the sensors within the recording region of the cube.

Conclusions: The performance of the system was judged as adequate for speech movement acquisition provided that specific steps are taken to minimize error during recording and to validate the quality of recorded data.