Speech Intelligibility In Children Research Articles

The Influences of Child Intelligibility and Rate on Caregiver Responses to Toddlers With and Without Cleft Palate.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of child speech intelligibility and rate on caregivers' linguistic responses. This study compared the language use of children with cleft palate with or without cleft lip (CP±L) and their caregivers' responses. Descriptive analyses of children's language and caregivers' responses and a multilevel analysis of caregiver responsivity were conducted to determine whether there were differences in children's productive language and caregivers' responses to different types of child utterances. Play-based caregiver-child interactions were video recorded in a clinic setting. Thirty-eight children (19 toddlers with nonsyndromic repaired CP±L and 19 toddlers with typical language development) between 17 and 37 months old and their primary caregivers participated. Child and caregiver measures were obtained from transcribed and coded video recordings and included the rate, total number of words, and number of different words spoken by children and their caregivers, intelligibility of child utterances, and form of caregiver responses. Findings from this study suggest caregivers are highly responsive to toddlers' communication attempts, regardless of the intelligibility of those utterances. However, opportunities to respond were fewer for children with CP±L. Significant differences were observed in children's intelligibility and productive language and in caregivers' use of questions in response to unintelligible utterances of children with and without CP±L. This study provides information about differences in children with CP±L's language use and caregivers' responses to spoken language of toddlers with and without CP±L.

Single-Word Speech Intelligibility in Children and Adults With Down Syndrome.

A single-word identification test was used to study speech production in children and adults with Down syndrome (DS) to determine the developmental pattern of speech intelligibility with an emphasis on vowels. Speech recordings were collected from 62 participants with DS aged 4-40 years and 25 typically developing participants aged 4-7 years. Panels of 5 adult lay listeners transcribed the speech recordings orthographically, and their responses were scored in comparison with the speakers' target words. Speech intelligibility in persons with DS improved with age, especially between the ages of 4 and 16 years. Whereas consonants contribute to intelligibility, vowels also played an important role in reduced intelligibility with an apparent developmental difference in low versus high vowels, where the vowels /æ/ and/ɑ/ developed at a later age than /i/ and /u/. Interspeaker variability was large, with male individuals being generally less intelligible than female individuals and some adult men having very low intelligibility. Results show age-related patterns in speech intelligibility in persons with DS and identify the contribution of dimensions of vowel production to intelligibility. The methods used clarify the phonetic basis of reduced intelligibility, with implications for assessment and treatment.

The Influence of Listener’s Experience and Speaker’s Severity on Speech Intelligibility in Children with Cochlear Implants

국내에서 신생아청각선별검사(newborn hearing screening) 가 확대 실시되면서 청각장애의 조기 진단과 재활이 가능하게 되었다. 청각장애 아동의 청력손실 정도가 고도(severe) 이상인 경우에는 보청기 착용만으로 구어 의사소통 발달에 필요한 말 지각(speech perception)발달이 어려우므로, 인공와우이식(cochlear implantation)의 대상이 된다. Kim(2007)은 인공와우에 대해서 “내이의 손상으로 인해 고도의 감각신경성 난청 혹은 농이 된 환자에게 청력을 제공해 주기 위하여, 외부의 음원으로 부터 전달되어 온 소리 에너지를 내이를 대신하여 전기적 에너 지로 변환시켜 와우관 내에 삽입한 전극을 통하여 청신경을 직 접 자극하는 장치이다.”라고 언급하였다. 즉, 인공와우와 와우 관 내에 삽입된 전극이 손상된 내이를 대신해서 청신경을 직접 자극함으로써, 청각장애 아동에게 유용한 청력을 제공하는 것 이다.

Impact of socioeconomic factors on paediatric cochlear implant outcomes

ObjectivesThe study was aimed at evaluating the impact of certain socioeconomic factors such as family income, level of parents' education, distance between the child's home and auditory verbal therapy clinic, and age of the child at implantation on postoperative cochlear implant outcomes. MethodsChildren suffering from congenital bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss and a chronologic age of 4 years or younger at the time of implantation were included in the study. Children who were able to complete a prescribed period of a 1-year follow-up were included in the study. These children underwent cochlear implantation surgery, and their postoperative outcomes were measured and documented using categories of auditory perception (CAP), meaningful auditory integration (MAIS), and speech intelligibility rating (SIR) scores. Children were divided into three groups based on the level of parental education, family income, and distance of their home from the rehabilitation-- auditory verbal therapy clinic. ResultsA total of 180 children were studied. The age at implantation had a significant impact on the postoperative outcomes, with an inverse correlation. The younger the child's age at the time of implantation, the better were the postoperative outcomes. However, there were no significant differences among the CAP, MAIS, and SIR scores and each of the three subgroups. Children from families with an annual income of less than $7,500, between $7,500 and $15,000, and more than $15,000 performed equally well, except for significantly higher SIR scores in children with family incomes more than $15,000. Children with of parents who had attended high school or possessed a bachelor's or Master's master's degree had similar scores, with no significant difference. Also, distance from the auditory verbal therapy clinic failed to have any significantimpact on a child's performance. DiscussionThese results have been variable, similar to those of previously published studies. A few of the earlier studies concurred with our results, but most of the studies had suggested that children in families of higher socioeconomic status had have better speech and language acquisition. ConclusionsCochlear implantation significantly improves auditory perception and speech intelligibility of children suffering from profound sensorineural hearing loss. Younger The younger the age at implantation, the better are the results. Hence, early implantation should be promoted and encouraged. Our study suggests that children who followed the designated program of postoperative mapping and auditory verbal therapy for a minimum period of 1 year seemed to do equally well in terms of hearing perception and speech intelligibility, irrespective of the socioeconomic status of the family. Further studies are essential to assess the impact of these factors on long-term speech acquisition andlanguage development.

Sequential pediatric bilateral cochlear implantation: The effect of time interval between implants

ObjectiveTo examine speech intelligibility in children subjected to sequential bilateral cochlear implants (CI) surgery and to assess the influence of the inter-stage interval duration. IntroductionBinaural hearing recovery can have additional benefits, especially in speech and language development in patients with congenital profound sensorineural hearing loss; so recently there has been an increase in the number of children receiving bilateral CI. MethodsTwenty-seven children who underwent sequential bilateral cochlear implant (SBCI) with a short (1–3 yrs), medium (4–6 yrs) and long (7–12 yrs) range interval between both implantations, respectively, were evaluated. All patients underwent periodic speech perception test in quiet and noise after second implant activation in three conditions: with the first or second implant alone and with both implants. Results were examined according to the inter-stage interval. ResultsSpeech intelligibility in noise was significantly better under bilateral conditions than either ear alone, in all three groups. Small improvements were seen in quiet, especially in the third group (6–12 yrs). ConclusionBenefits of second implant in the early-implanted children and after a short inter-implant delay are more evident. However our study support that, even after a long period of deafness and despite a prolonged inter-stage interval, sequential bilateral cochlear implantation should be considered.Level of Evidence: Level 4.

Chinese speech intelligibility of children in noisy and reverberant environments

Reverberation time and signal-to-noise ratio in classrooms are critical factors to speech intelligibility. In this study, the combined effect of reverberation time and signal-to-noise ratio on Chinese speech intelligibility of children was investigated in 28 elementary school classrooms in China. The results show that Chinese speech intelligibility scores increase with an increase of signal-to-noise ratio and the age of children, and decrease with an increase of reverberation time in classrooms. Younger children require higher signal-to-noise ratio and shorter reverberation time than older children to understand the speech. The A-weighted signal-to-noise ratio combined with a wide range of reverberation time can be used to predict speech intelligibility score and serve as a criterion for classroom design for elementary schools.

Acoustic changes in the speech of children with cerebral palsy following an intensive program of dysarthria therapy.

The speech intelligibility of children with dysarthria and cerebral palsy has been observed to increase following therapy focusing on respiration and phonation. To determine if speech intelligibility change following intervention is associated with change in acoustic measures of voice. We recorded 16 young people with cerebral palsy and dysarthria (nine girls; mean age 14 years, SD = 2; nine spastic type, two dyskinetic, four mixed; one Worster-Drought) producing speech in two conditions (single words, connected speech) twice before and twice after therapy focusing on respiration, phonation and rate. In both single-word and connected speech we measured vocal intensity (root mean square-RMS), period-to-period variability (Shimmer APQ, Jitter RAP and PPQ) and harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR). In connected speech we also measured mean fundamental frequency, utterance duration in seconds and speech and articulation rate (syllables/s with and without pauses respectively). All acoustic measures were made using Praat. Intelligibility was calculated in previous research. In single words statistically significant but very small reductions were observed in period-to-period variability following therapy: Shimmer APQ -0.15 (95% CI = -0.21 to -0.09); Jitter RAP -0.08 (95% CI = -0.14 to -0.01); Jitter PPQ -0.08 (95% CI = -0.15 to -0.01). No changes in period-to-period perturbation across phrases in connected speech were detected. However, changes in connected speech were observed in phrase length, rate and intensity. Following therapy, mean utterance duration increased by 1.11 s (95% CI = 0.37-1.86) when measured with pauses and by 1.13 s (95% CI = 0.40-1.85) when measured without pauses. Articulation rate increased by 0.07 syllables/s (95% CI = 0.02-0.13); speech rate increased by 0.06 syllables/s (95% CI = < 0.01-0.12); and intensity increased by 0.03 Pascals (95% CI = 0.02-0.04). There was a gradual reduction in mean fundamental frequency across all time points (-11.85 Hz, 95% CI = -19.84 to -3.86). Only increases in the intensity of single words (0.37 Pascals, 95% CI = 0.10-0.65) and reductions in fundamental frequency (-0.11 Hz, 95% CI = -0.21 to -0.02) in connected speech were associated with gains in intelligibility. Mean reductions in impairment in vocal function following therapy observed were small and most are unlikely to be clinically significant. Changes in vocal control did not explain improved intelligibility.

Children's Attitudes Toward Peers With Unintelligible Speech Associated With Cleft Lip and/or Palate.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether reduced speech intelligibility in children with cleft palate affects social and personal attribute judgments made by typically developing children of different ages. The study (1) measured the correlation between intelligibility scores of speech samples from children with cleft palate and social and personal attribute judgments made by typically developing children based on these samples and (2) compared the attitude judgments made by children of different ages. Participants A total of 90 typically developing children, 30 in each of three age groups (7 to 8 years, 9 to 10 years, and 11 to 12 years). Speech intelligibility scores and typically developing children's attitudes were measured using eight social and personal attributes on a three-point rating scale. There was a significant correlation between the speech intelligibility scores and attitude judgments for a number of traits: "sick-healthy" as rated by the children aged 7 to 8 years, "no friends-friends" by the children aged 9 to 10 years, and "ugly-good looking" and "no friends-friends" by the children aged 11 to 12 years. Children aged 7 to 8 years gave significantly lower ratings for "mean-kind" but higher ratings for "shy-outgoing" when compared with the other two groups. Typically developing children tended to make negative social and personal attribute judgments about children with cleft palate based solely on the intelligibility of their speech. Society, educators, and health professionals should work together to ensure that children with cleft palate are not stigmatized by their peers.

Speech Intelligibility in Persian Hearing Impaired Children with Cochlear Implants and Hearing Aids.

The aim of present study is to evaluate and compare speech intelligibility in hearing impaired children with cochlear implants (CI) and hearing aid (HA) users and children with normal hearing (NH). The sample consisted of 45 Persian-speaking children aged 3 to 5-years-old. They were divided into three groups, and each group had 15, children, children with CI and children using hearing aids in Hamadan. Participants was evaluated by the test of speech intelligibility level. Results of ANOVA on speech intelligibility test showed that NH children had significantly better reading performance than hearing impaired children with CI and HA. Post-hoc analysis, using Scheffe test, indicated that the mean score of speech intelligibility of normal children was higher than the HA and CI groups; but the difference was not significant between mean of speech intelligibility in children with hearing loss that use cochlear implant and those using HA. It is clear that even with remarkabkle advances in HA technology, many hearing impaired children continue to find speech production a challenging problem. Given that speech intelligibility is a key element in proper communication and social interaction, consequently, educational and rehabilitation programs are essential to improve speech intelligibility of children with hearing loss.

Prediction of speech intelligibility of children with cerebral palsy from characteristics at 2 years of age

Prediction of speech intelligibility of children with cerebral palsy from characteristics at 2 years of age

Speech therapy for children with dysarthria acquired before three years of age.

Children with motor impairments often have the motor speech disorder dysarthria, a condition which effects the tone, strength and co-ordination of any or all of the muscles used for speech. Resulting speech difficulties can range from mild, with slightly slurred articulation and breathy voice, to profound, with an inability to produce any recognisable words. Children with dysarthria are often prescribed communication aids to supplement their natural forms of communication. However, there is variation in practice regarding the provision of therapy focusing on voice and speech production. Descriptive studies have suggested that therapy may improve speech, but its effectiveness has not been evaluated. To assess whether any speech and language therapy intervention aimed at improving the speech of children with dysarthria is more effective in increasing children's speech intelligibility or communicative participation than no intervention at all , and to compare the efficacy of individual types of speech language therapy in improving the speech intelligibility or communicative participation of children with dysarthria. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2015 , Issue 7 ), MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL , LLBA, ERIC, PsychInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, UK National Research Register and Dissertation Abstracts up to July 2015, handsearched relevant journals published between 1980 and July 2015, and searched proceedings of relevant conferences between 1996 to 2015. We placed no restrictions on the language or setting of the studies. A previous version of this review considered studies published up to April 2009. In this update we searched for studies published from April 2009 to July 2015. We considered randomised controlled trials and studies using quasi-experimental designs in which children were allocated to groups using non-random methods. One author (LP) conducted searches of all databases, journals and conference reports. All searches included a reliability check in which a second review author independently checked a random sample comprising 15% of all identified reports. We planned that two review authors would independently assess the quality and extract data from eligible studies. No randomised controlled trials or group studies were identified. This review found no evidence from randomised trials of the effectiveness of speech and language therapy interventions to improve the speech of children with early acquired dysarthria. Rigorous, fully powered randomised controlled trials are needed to investigate if the positive changes in children's speech observed in phase I and phase II studies are generalisable to the population of children with early acquired dysarthria served by speech and language therapy services. Research should examine change in children's speech production and intelligibility. It must also investigate children's participation in social and educational activities, and their quality of life, as well as the cost and acceptability of interventions.

Receptive speech in early implanted children later diagnosed with autism

IntroductionIncidence of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rising through the years with estimated 1 in 68 in the US in 2014. This incidence is also rising in the population of congenitally deaf children. Favorable outcome after early cochlear implantation is expected due to plasticity and reorganization capacity of brain in infants and toddlers, but outcomes could be significantly modified in children with diagnosed ASD. Current methods of screening for autism have difficulties in establishing diagnosis in children who have both autism and other developmental delays, especially at such an early age. The aim of the study was to assess the development of auditory perception and speech intelligibility in implanted children with profound congenital hearing loss who were diagnosed with ASD comparing to those who were typically developing. Material and methodsFourteen children underwent cochlear implantation; four were later diagnosed with ASD and ten were typically developing. All children underwent intensive postoperative speech and hearing therapy. The development of auditory perception and speech intelligibility was assessed using the Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) and the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) during the 5-years follow-up. ResultsIn children later diagnosed with ASD, auditory processing developed slowly. Depending on the individual capabilities, by the age of six they could identify environmental sounds or discriminate speech sounds. Speech Intelligibility in children with ASD was at best rated as category 2, with very little or no progress up to the age of six, despite extensive speech and language therapy. Communication skills were strongly affected by a degree of autistic features expression. ConclusionPreoperative psychological assessment in congenitally deaf infants should be expanded by the use of validated instruments for early detection of autism. The possibility of developing ASD should be kept in mind by all professionals involved in programs for cochlear implantation.

Intelligibility in Context Scale: Normative and Validation Data for English-Speaking Preschoolers.

The purpose of this study was to describe normative and validation data on the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS; McLeod, Harrison, & McCormack, 2012c) for English-speaking children. The ICS is a 7-item, parent-report measure of children's speech intelligibility with a range of communicative partners. Data were collected from the parents of 803 Australian English-speaking children ranging in age from 4;0 (years;months) to 5;5 (37.0% were multilingual). The mean ICS score was 4.4 (SD = 0.7) out of a possible total score of 5. Children's speech was reported to be most intelligible to their parents, followed by their immediate family, friends, and teachers; children's speech was least intelligible to strangers. The ICS had high internal consistency (α = .94). Significant differences in scores were identified on the basis of sex and age but not on the basis of socioeconomic status or the number of languages spoken. There were significant differences in scores between children whose parents had concerns about their child's speech (M = 3.9) and those who did not (M = 4.6). A sensitivity of .82 and a specificity of .58 were established as the optimal cutoff. Test-retest reliability and criterion validity were established for 184 children with a speech sound disorder. There was a significant low correlation between the ICS mean score and percentage of phonemes correct (r = .30), percentage of consonants correct (r = .24), and percentage of vowels correct (r = .30) on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (Dodd, Hua, Crosbie, Holm, & Ozanne, 2002). Thirty-one parents completed the ICS related to English and another language spoken by their child with a speech sound disorder. The significant correlations between the scores suggest that the ICS may be robust between languages. This article provides normative ICS data for English-speaking children and additional validation of the psychometric properties of the ICS. The robustness of the ICS was suggested because mean ICS scores were not affected by socioeconomic status, number of languages spoken, or whether the ICS was completed in relation to English or another language. The ICS is recommended as a screening measure of children's speech intelligibility.

The Influence of Chewing Ability on Speech Intelligibility in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy

뇌성마비아동은 경도부터 심도수준에 이르기까지 씹기능력에서 어려움을 나타낸다. 본 연구의 목적은 경직형 뇌성마비아동의 씹기능력과 말명료도와의 관계를 알아보고, 비정상적 씹기능력의 중증도에 따라 말명료도에 미치는 영향에 대해 알아보는 것이다. 연구대상은 2~10세의 경직형 뇌성마비아동 21명이 참여하였다. PSAS를 사용하여 씹기능력을 분석하였고, 단음절 따라말하기과제를 통해 말명료도를 측정하여 두 변인 간 상관을 살펴보았다. 연구 결과 첫째, 경직형 뇌성마비아동의 씹기능력과 말명료도는 유의한 상관을 나타내었다. 둘째, 씹기능력의 중증도별로 살펴본 결과, 경도와 중도집단에 비해 심도집단의 말명료도가 유의하게 낮았다. 본 연구의 결과를 통해 말산출과 씹기기능이 정상적으로 이루어지기 위해서는 구강기관의 적절한 운동성과 협응이 중요하다는 것을 확인할 수 있었다. 따라서 경직형 뇌성마비아동의 섭식기능에 대한 조기 평가와 중재가 중요하며 구강기관의 발달순서를 고려한 운동체계학습이 이루어져야 한다는 것을 제안한다.

Effect of the number of presentations on listener transcriptions and reliability in the assessment of speech intelligibility in children.

The assessment of intelligibility is an essential part of establishing the severity of a speech disorder. The intelligibility of a speaker is affected by a number of different variables relating, inter alia, to the speech material, the listener and the listener task. To explore the impact of the number of presentations of the utterances on assessments of intelligibility based on orthographic transcription of spontaneous speech, specifically the impact on intelligibility scores, reliability and intra-listener variability. Speech from 12 children (aged 4:6-8:3 years; mean = 5:10 years) with percentage consonants correct (PCC) scores ranging from 49 to 81 was listened to by 18 students on the speech-language pathology (SLP) programme and by two recent graduates from that programme. Three conditions were examined during the transcription phase: (1) listening to each utterance once; (2) listening to each utterance a second time; and (3) listening to all utterances from a given child a third time after having heard all of its utterances twice. Statistically significant differences between intelligibility scores were found across the three conditions, i.e. the intelligibility score increased with the number of presentations while inter-judge reliability was unchanged. The results differed markedly across listeners, but each individual listener's results were very consistent across conditions. Information about the number of times an utterance is presented to the listener is important and should therefore always be included in reports of research involving intelligibility assessment. There is a need for further research and discussion on listener abilities and strategies.

Relationship of Auditory Processing through Binaural Interaction with the Degree of Speech Intelligibility in Children with Phonological Disorders

Relationship of Auditory Processing through Binaural Interaction with the Degree of Speech Intelligibility in Children with Phonological Disorders

Proximate factors associated with speech intelligibility in children with cochlear implants: A preliminary study

The purpose of this descriptive pilot study was to examine possible relationships among speech intelligibility and structural characteristics of speech in children who use cochlear implants. The Beginners Intelligibility Test (BIT) was administered to 10 children with cochlear implants, and the intelligibility of the words in the sentences was judged by panels of naïve adult listeners. Additionally, several qualitative and quantitative measures of word omission, segment correctness, duration, and intonation variability were applied to the sentences used to assess intelligibility. Correlational analyses were conducted to determine if BIT scores and the other speech parameters were related. There was a significant correlation between BIT score and percent words omitted, but no other variables correlated significantly with BIT score. The correlation between intelligibility and word omission may be task-specific as well as reflective of memory limitations.

Changes in Voice Quality after Speech-Language Therapy Intervention in Older Children with Cerebral Palsy

Objective: We examined whether perceived voice quality is altered in a group of children with cerebral palsy (CP) following an intervention focusing on respiration and phonation, and whether possible improvements might be associated with increased intelligibility levels. Methods: Sixteen individuals with CP and dysarthria (9 girls, mean age 14 years, SD = 2; 9 with spastic type CP, 2 dyskinetic, 4 mixed, 1 Worster-Drought syndrome) completed intelligibility assessments on separate days twice before intervention, at termination of treatment and at 6-week follow-up using 50 words from the Children's Speech Intelligibility Measure lists, and describing cartoon strips. Experienced speech-language pathologists rated voice quality employing GRBAS scales. Results: There was no clear evidence that change in voice quality pre-post intervention was large compared with change in the pre-intervention or post-intervention periods. Asthenia demonstrated largest improvement (effect size of 0.4). Intelligibility correlated weakly with Grade, Breathiness and Asthenia, but not with Roughness or Strain. A deterioration of 1 unit on the Grade and Asthenia scales was associated with an approximately 11% decrease in intelligibility. Conclusion: Perceived changes in voice quality were small compared to changes in intelligibility. Further investigations must examine other variables potentially associated with intelligibility gain to better understand the links between the respiratory-phonatory intervention and improved intelligibility.

Effects of preoperative speech therapy on the speech intelligibility of patients with velopharyngeal incompetence

EnAbstract Background Improved articulatory placement through speech therapy may eliminate compensatory errors, improve velopharyngeal function, minimize perception of hypernasality, and improve speech intelligibility. Aim The aim of this work was to study the effect of preoperative speech therapy on the speech intelligibility in patients with residual velopharyngeal insufficiency in order to provide a better speech outcome in such patients. Patients and methods This study included 41 patients diagnosed with residual velopharyngeal insufficiency after cleft palate repair. Patients were divided into two groups: group I included 22 patients scheduled to undergo speech therapy 6 months preoperatively, and group II included 19 patients who did not receive preoperative speech therapy. Both groups underwent speech therapy for 6 months postoperatively. Evaluation was carried out through auditory perceptual assessment (APA) including the type and degree of open nasality, consonant precision, compensatory articulatory mechanisms (glottal articulation and pharyngealization of fricatives), audible nasal emission of air, and overall intelligibility of speech. All these elements are graded along a five-point scale in which 0 is normal and 4 is severe affection. Documentation of APA is performed by high fidelity speech and voice audio recording and endoscopy. Formal speech intelligibility testing was carried out using the Arabic Speech Intelligibility test, which is designed to provide an estimation of the overall speech intelligibility of children by providing a total score in percentage. Nasometry was performed for all patients using a Kay nasometer, which provides the ‘nasalance score’. Results On comparing the APA assessment of group I after 6 months of speech therapy postoperatively with the preoperative data, a highly significant decrease with regard to all parameters was revealed; however, in group II, the same comparison revealed a highly significant decrease as regards the degree of open nasality and nasal emission of air and a significant difference in terms of glottal articulation, pharyngealization of fricatives, and overall speech intelligibility. On comparing the two groups postoperatively, a significant difference in glottal articulation, pharyngealization of fricatives, and overall speech intelligibility, being more improved in group I, was revealed. Nasometry showed a significant difference between the postoperative results after speech therapy compared with the preoperative results, with a nonsignificant difference between the two groups postoperatively. In group I, the results of the Arabic Speech Intelligibility test showed a highly significant decrease in the number of patients with unintelligible speech and poor speech intelligibility, a significant decrease in number of patients with fair speech intelligibility, and a highly significant increase in the number of patients with good and excellent speech intelligibility. In group II, there was a significant decrease in the number of patients with unintelligible speech and poor speech intelligibility and a significant increase in the number of patients with fair, good, and excellent speech intelligibility. Conclusion and recommendations Speech therapy before surgery for residual velopharyngeal insufficiency can improve the results of postoperative therapy, with a better speech intelligibility outcome. Therefore, it is recommended to schedule a speech therapy program before secondary repair of the velopharyngeal valve in order to attain better speech intelligibility.

Development of an Arabic speech intelligibility test for children

EnAbstract Objectives Speech intelligibility is usually expressed as a percentage of spoken words, sentences, or phonemes correctly identified by a listener or a group of listeners when spoken by a talker or a number of talkers. Communicative disorders could have a deleterious effect on speech intelligibility. To date, there are no Arabic tests measuring speech intelligibility. Aim It is necessary to develop and standardize an objective Arabic speech intelligibility test that can be used to estimate the degree of deterioration of speech intelligibility in communicative disorders as an attempt to develop a valid and a reliable tool to assess the efficacy of different therapy programs for different communicative disorders. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 200 children with an age range of 4–12 years whose language skills were either fully developed or equivalent for age. All children were selected randomly from the outpatient clinic of phoniatrics and had any of five selected speech disorders affecting speech intelligibility. Each child included in the study was subjected to two evaluations: a subjective rating of the child’s speech intelligibility and the developed Arabic speech intelligibility test, which is meant to be an objective measure. Results The results showed a highly significant correlation between the scores of the Arabic speech intelligibility test and the average scores given by raters, the average scores for words, and the average scores for sentences (0.92, 0.98, and 0.84, respectively). Conclusion The developed test is proven to be valid and reliable for measuring speech intelligibility in children and could be categorically classified according to ranges of severity.