Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: to compare the articulatory gestures of the /l/ sound, characterized by gender variable, of children with typical and atypical speech development. Methods: the sample was composed of 60 children, 30 with typical speech development and 30 with atypical speech development, aged between 4 years and 8 years and 11 months, of both genders, being the /l/ sound acquired for all children. The articulatory data (ultrasound image of tongue movement) were collected from the recording of tri/polysyllabic words with the sound /l/, considering the maximum elevation of the tongue point analyzed through the Articulate Assistant Advanced (AAA) software. The mean tongue contours of typical and atypical children were compared to the gender variable in order to observe possible differences between these groups. Results: there was a significant difference in the tongue gestures of typical and atypical children in the male gender. In females, there was less differentiation of the means of the tongue contours between the typical and atypical children. Conclusion: the group of atypical male children presented less ability to refine the tongue gestures when compared to the typical ones of the same gender.
Highlights
For the child to acquire a sound according to the adult pattern, it is necessary that adequate neuropsychomotor development occur, with gradual refinement and coordination of the motor gesture 1.When there are changes in the sound system below the established age and in the absence of relevant cognitive, auditory, and/or psycho-affective changes, there is a Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) 2,3
This designation has been used by Gestural Phonology 4, a theory that understands speech production as a dynamic process that involves the coordination of articulators, allowing the characterization of tongue gestures according to trajectory and time 5
The production of the /l/ sound requires the production of double tongue gestures 8, which justifies its complexity of acquisition
Summary
For the child to acquire a sound according to the adult pattern, it is necessary that adequate neuropsychomotor development occur, with gradual refinement and coordination of the motor gesture 1.When there are changes in the sound system below the established age and in the absence of relevant cognitive, auditory, and/or psycho-affective changes, there is a Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) 2,3. According to Gestural Phonology, the child makes attempts to approximate the adult sound, but these approaches are not always audibly perceived, and ultrasound (USG) is important to demonstrate that the acquisition of sound contrast is present in the child’s productions, with a gradual “refinement” of the articulatory gesture. This improvement of speech motor skills occurs even after the “end” of the acquisition period when articulatory gestures gradually become more stable in both temporal organization and magnitude . This improvement of speech motor skills occurs even after the “end” of the acquisition period when articulatory gestures gradually become more stable in both temporal organization and magnitude . 9-11
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