Speech Therapy For Children Research Articles

Budowanie planu ruchu artykulacyjnego u dzieci z zespołem Downanu ruchu artykulacyjnego u dzieci z zespołem Downa

The authors of the article present two techniques supporting the development of articulation in children with Down syndrome: Articulation Gestures and Phoneme Manual Facilitation. Using their own clinical experience and referring to the latest neurobiological knowledge and subject literature, they justify the importance and, in some cases, the need to apply these techniques in speech therapy of children with trisomy 21. The text also presents three individual cases of children with Down syndrome of different ages who have been diagnosed with profound speech delay.

Physical, occupational, and speech therapy for children with cerebral palsy.

To explore the relationship between rehabilitation therapies and development in children with cerebral palsy (CP). We conducted a prospective, longitudinal study involving 656 children with CP (mean age[SD] 6y [2y 8mo] at study entry; 1y 6mo-11y 11mo; 287 females, 369 males), and their parents. Children were assessed two to five times over 2years by therapists using standardized measures of balance and walking endurance. Parents completed questionnaires on demographics, rehabilitation therapies, and their children's performance in self-care and participation in recreation. Therapists and parents collaboratively classified children's Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels. We created longitudinal graphs for each GMFCS level, depicting change across time using centiles. Using multinomial models, we analyzed the relationship between therapies (amount, focus, family-centeredness, and the extent therapies met children's needs) and whether change in balance, walking endurance, and participation was 'more than' and 'less than' the reference of 'as expected'. Children were more likely to progress 'more than expected' when participating in recreation when therapies were family-centered, met children's needs, and focused on structured play/recreation. A focus on health and well-being was positively associated with participation and self-care. The amount of therapy did not predict outcomes. Therapy services that are family-centered, consider the needs of the child, and focus on structured play/recreational activities and health/well-being may enhance the development of children with CP. Family-centered rehabilitation therapies were positively associated with greater participation in family/recreation activities and walking endurance. Parental perception that rehabilitation therapies met children's needs was associated with greater participation in family/recreation activities. Structured play, recreational activities, and health/well-being are important for self-care and participation when planning rehabilitation therapy. The amount of rehabilitation therapy was not related to developmental outcomes.

Examining factors affecting parental satisfaction with speech therapy in children with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome

Objectives: This paper explores the relationship between speech therapy intensity and parent satisfaction with speech therapy (ST) in children with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (P-MS), a rare genetic disorder.Methods: ST intensity (ST Dose [minutes per session]) × (ST Dose Frequency) × (ST Length [years]) and parent satisfaction (modified PSQ-18) with ST were measured by online questionnaire. Non-parametric correlation, partial correlation, and linear regression calculations were performed.Results: Significant correlations between ST Dose and parent satisfaction were observed in the subscales of Time Spent with ST (r = .36, p < .05) and Accessibility and Convenience (r = .40, p < .05) in children with P-MS controlling for child age. ST Dose was also a significant independent predictor of parent satisfaction with ST in specific subscales.Conclusion: Significant positive correlation and linear regression results indicate increases in ST Dose (minutes per session) represent a mechanism for increasing parent satisfaction with ST in children with P-MS.

Szczegółowa diagnoza logopedyczna dziecka z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną w stopniu umiarkowanym jako podstawa skutecznej terapii

Speech and language are important in the mental and emotional development of every human being. Various speech disorders that affect the daily functioning, communication and acquiring the basic human needs can disrupt the functioning of a person in society. In the case of people with intellectual disabilities, this is an oligophasia, or the speech disorder characteristic for people with reduced intellectual ability. In this article, the author draws attention to the importance of a detailed speech diagnosis, which is the basis for the later therapeutic process. He presents in on the example of a child with moderate-degree intellectual disability, using the Afa-Skala test, while at the same time demonstrating its usefulness in diagnosing the intellectually disabled children’s language disorders. In the final part of the text the author deals with the problem of speech therapy in children with these disorders.

Rozwój językowy dziecka a b-learning

A child’s language development vs. blended learning Abstract The author of the article analyzes the phenomenon of b-learning in speech therapy of children. The article presents answers to research hypotheses from the PhD dissertation of the author, ”B-learning in the diagnosis and speech therapy of children”. The author tries to find an answer to the question whether new technologies have a positive impact on the linguistic development of contemporary children? The digital world has not only risks but also benefits. Speech therapist, who are responsible for the linguistic development of children, should pay particular attention to these phenomena and study them in order to develop the best possible methods of stimulating the speech and communication of ”digital natives”.

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.

Combined gestures and auditory-verbal training for comprehension and production of verbs in deaf children

Objective: An important factor determining the efficacy of speech therapy for children with severe hearing loss is the type and the method of educating children in the use of speech language items. Given the shortage of golden time for language learning, it is necessary to use efficient speech therapy approaches for improving the language of the child. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of adding gestures to auditory-verbal training (AVT) in speech therapy for children with severe hearing loss. Methods: In this double-blinded clinical trial, 66 children with severe hearing loss were randomly assigned to two groups of 33 subjects. Receptive and expressive language competence for some simple Persian verbs was evaluated by the Newsha test. The AVT was accompanied by gesture for the intervention group and no accompanying gesture for the control group. Simple verbs include fifty early action words such as sit, run, hold, and go. Results: In both the experimental and control groups, a significant difference was observed for receptive language of simple verbs before and after the intervention (P = 0.001, P = 0.045). However, no significant difference was found before the intervention (P = 0.532), there was a significant difference between mean receptive score of the two groups after the intervention (P = 0.032). Conclusion: Adding gestures to AVT significantly changed the mean expressive score in 2-3-year-old children with severe hearing loss. But, both the synthetic approach and the AVT had the same degree of positive effect for education of receptive language of simple verbs for these children.

The efficacy of tenoten for children in the treatment of motor and speech disorders in children with perinatal damage of the central nervous system

To assess the therapeutic efficacy of tenoten for children in perinatal hypoxic CNS damage in children. The study included 80 children (56 boys and 24 girls) between the ages of 3 and 3 years and 11 months with different variants (dysontogenetic or encephalopathic) of the effects on the perinatal nervous system. All children were divided into primary (n=50) and control (n=30) groups. Children of the primary group received a combination of conventional speech therapy methods with tenoten for children (1 tablet 3 times a day for 12 weeks). In the control group, children were not treated with tenoten for children. The inclusion of tenoten in a comprehensive children's speech therapy program contributed significantly to the successful development of both general motor skills and spatial coordination as well as fine motor skills in the hand. In addition, tenoten significantly decreased signs of dysarthria and improved articulation, specifically in children with dysontogenetic variant of perinatal hypoxic CNS damage. Tenoten had a positive effect on child's behavior as well.

The influence of (central) auditory processing disorder in speech sound disorders

IntroductionConsidering the importance of auditory information for the acquisition and organization of phonological rules, the assessment of (central) auditory processing contributes to both the diagnosis and targeting of speech therapy in children with speech sound disorders. ObjectiveTo study phonological measures and (central) auditory processing of children with speech sound disorder. MethodsClinical and experimental study, with 21 subjects with speech sound disorder aged between 7.0 and 9.11 years, divided into two groups according to their (central) auditory processing disorder. The assessment comprised tests of phonology, speech inconsistency, and metalinguistic abilities. ResultsThe group with (central) auditory processing disorder demonstrated greater severity of speech sound disorder. The cutoff value obtained for the process density index was the one that best characterized the occurrence of phonological processes for children above 7 years of age. ConclusionThe comparison among the tests evaluated between the two groups showed differences in some phonological and metalinguistic abilities. Children with an index value above 0.54 demonstrated strong tendencies towards presenting a (central) auditory processing disorder, and this measure was effective to indicate the need for evaluation in children with speech sound disorder.

A longitudinal assessment of early childhood education with integrated speech therapy for children with significant language impairment in Germany.

In Lower Saxony, Germany, pre-school children with language- and speech-deficits have the opportunity to access kindergartens with integrated language-/speech therapy prior to attending primary school, both regular or with integrated speech therapy. It is unknown whether these early childhood education treatments are helpful and effective. To determine the value of early language-/speech therapy treatment in combination with support of personality traits during the pre-school and primary school period on the long-term social and academic development of children with significant language-/speech delay. We conducted prospective longitudinal case series, following the academic progress of 71 children after they had been discharged from a speech therapy kindergarten (STK) up to 19 years previously. Data collection included details on language/speech impairment, socio-economic factors, psycho-social skills and intelligence quotient. At the end of the follow-up period, 58 children were attending secondary schools: 44 (76%) children attended a regular secondary school, whereas 14 (24%) children were enrolled in a school with special needs education. The results suggest that self-awareness and intelligence quotient in this study cohort correlated with later academic achievements. Kindergartens and primary schools which support curriculum-integrated language-/speech therapy and allow for different personality traits appear to improve longterm development and academic outcome of children with language-/speech impairment or delay.

Initiation of Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapy in Children With Traumatic Brain Injury

Objectives(1) To determine factors associated with physical therapy (PT) or occupational therapy (OT) evaluation and speech or swallow therapy evaluation in hospitalized children with traumatic brain injury (TBI); (2) to describe when during the hospital stay the initial therapy evaluations typically occur; and (3) to quantify any between-hospital variation in therapy evaluation. DesignRetrospective cohort study. SettingChildren's hospitals participating in the Pediatric Health Information System database (January 2001–June 2011). ParticipantsChildren (age <18y) with TBI (N=21,399) who were admitted to the intensive care unit and survived to hospital discharge. InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome MeasuresPT or OT evaluation and speech or swallow therapy evaluation. A propensity score was calculated to allow comparison of expected with observed rates of therapy evaluations by the hospital. ResultsThe median hospital length of stay was 5 days (interquartile range, 3–10d). Overall, 8748 (41%) of 21,399 children received either a PT or OT evaluation, and 5490 (26%) out of 21,399 children received either a speech or swallow evaluation. Older children and those with higher energy injury mechanisms, more severe injuries, extremity fractures, more treatment with neuromuscular blocking agents or pentobarbital, and admission to a hospital with an American College of Surgeons Level I pediatric trauma designation were more likely to receive therapy evaluations. The median time until the first therapy evaluation was 5 (PT or OT) and 7 days (speech or swallow). Expected hospital evaluation rates were 25% to 54% (PT or OT) and 16% to 35% (speech or swallow), while observed hospital evaluation rates were 11% to 74% (PT or OT) and 4% to 55% (speech or swallow). ConclusionsThere is wide between-hospital variation in provision of rehabilitation therapies for children with TBI. Evidence-based criteria for initiation of routine therapy evaluations after TBI are needed.

Spectrographic analysis as an indicator of perceived progress during speech therapy

Despite a respectable data set in speech literature documenting acoustic features of disordered speech, there is a notable scarcity of investigations documenting use of acoustic analysis during speech therapy. In 1999, Kent, Weismer, Kent, Vorperian and Duffy predicted that “joint perceptual-acoustic analysis” would soon be common in clinics due to the lower cost and ease of use of acoustic analysis procedures. Given the paucity of published data, such joint analyses are either still not occurring or are limited to use in clinical settings where information is not shared. Although some clinicians are beginning to use spectrograms as visual biofeedback during speech therapy for children, few studies have documented the effectiveness of this clinical use. Additionally, no studies have attempted to assess the relationship between spectrographic change and change in clinician perception of sound production. This investigation will assess the utility of spectrographic analysis in a clinical setting with children as they progress through speech therapy for misarticulation of /s/ by measuring the acoustic changes occurring over time as sound production matures, and providing additional information about the relationship between acoustic features and perception of accurate sound production.

A novel prosody assessment test: Findings in three cases of Landau–Kleffner syndrome

Landau–Kleffner syndrome (LKS) is a rare childhood neurological disorder characterized by subacute aphasia, auditory agnosia and abnormal EEG. Prosody structures utterances, indicates sentence modality (linguistic prosody) and expresses the speaker’s intention, attitude and emotions (affective prosody). It not only functions as (para-) linguistic features but also provides social explanations. It has been shown that infants can perceive, distinguish and use prosodic features for communication. Since patients with LKS have no more means of verbal communication, we suppose they use some “primitive” cues in an attempt to understand what is said to them. Based on the fact that aphasia does not mean loss of social capacity/functionality, and the precociousness and functions of prosody, the present study investigated prosodic capacity outcomes (possible preservation of prosody) in three individuals - two children and one adolescent - with LKS compared with 7–8 yearold healthy children and healthy adults. A set of perceptual tests of linguistic and affective prosody was elaborated and used for this study. Results revealed that affective prosody is better used in a child with LKS than in the control group under the conditions such as relatively late age at onset, short duration of epilepsy/medication and persistent comprehension problems. Given that prosody appears to be helpful for better oral comprehension, prosody should be used in speech therapy for children with LKS.

Zaburzenia artykulacji u dzieci ze współistniejącymi zaburzeniami przetwarzania słuchowego – efekty terapii słuchowej

To assess effectiveness of the auditory training in children with dyslalia and central auditory processing disorders. Material consisted of 50 children aged 7-9-years-old. Children with articulation disorders stayed under long-term speech therapy care in the Auditory and Phoniatrics Clinic. All children were examined by a laryngologist and a phoniatrician. Assessment included tonal and impedance audiometry and speech therapists' and psychologist's consultations. Additionally, a set of electrophysiological examinations was performed - registration of N2, P2, N2, P2, P300 waves and psychoacoustic test of central auditory functions: FPT - frequency pattern test. Next children took part in the regular auditory training and attended speech therapy. Speech assessment followed treatment and therapy, again psychoacoustic tests were performed and P300 cortical potentials were recorded. After that statistical analyses were performed. Analyses revealed that application of auditory training in patients with dyslalia and other central auditory disorders is very efficient. Auditory training may be a very efficient therapy supporting speech therapy in children suffering from dyslalia coexisting with articulation and central auditory disorders and in children with educational problems of audiogenic origin.

Finding key emotional states to be recognized in a computer based speech therapy system

Emotion recognition has become a “must have” for all systems that want to inspire user's confidence and to interact in a friendly and familiar way. This is why speech therapy, especially for young children, can be considered half-blind if it does not take into account the emotional state of the subject. Most research on affective state identification so far has focused on adult subjects, with a good pronunciation. However, little research has been conducted on adapting classical emotion recognition techniques in “narrow areas” such as children speech therapy, where emotions play a key role. In this paper we investigate which emotional states should be recognized by a CBST (Computer Based Speech Therapy System) in order to reduce the gap between classical and computer assisted therapy. A brief literature review is presented, exploring the recent work in the area. New hypothesis are tested using results from a focus group and from an experiment involving children. Appropriate affective states and measure model are identified. These results encourage us to develop an emotion recognition extension for our CBST named Logomon. While the vision of a CBST that can replace human SLT (Speech and Language Therapist) is beyond the horizon of the next decade, recent advances has proved that computer can be a valuable “primary assistant” in the therapy process.

Result of Low Frequency Speech Therapy in Children with Articulation Disorder

Result of Low Frequency Speech Therapy in Children with Articulation Disorder

第16回 日本聴能言語学会学術講演会 シンポジウム 発声発語器官の運動障害へのアプローチ 1 小児における現状と問題点

第16回 日本聴能言語学会学術講演会 シンポジウム 発声発語器官の運動障害へのアプローチ 1 小児における現状と問題点

Is speech therapy really preventing recovery in stutterers?

Dear EditorThe paper by Kalinowski et al. (2005) on speech therapy for children who stutter suggests that speech therapy may not only be ineffective for stuttering, but may, in fact, be detrimental...

Is it possible for speech therapy to improve upon natural recovery rates in children who stutter?

Speech and language therapists treating children who stutter appear to be assigned a difficult task. Natural spontaneous remission accounts for approximately 60-80% of all children recovering from stuttering. Despite our best efforts, no protocol has ever shown its effectiveness separate from natural recovery rates (i.e. 60-80%). Although speech and language therapists have used a vast array of therapeutic protocols, the incidence and prevalence of childhood stuttering appears to have remained unchanged. Therefore, although in possession of multiple treatment tools, speech and language therapists might be ill-equipped to treat stuttering children effectively and efficiently to the point of recovery. To assess speech and language therapists' self-reported perceptions of their success in helping children 'completely recover from stuttering' (i.e. no longer exhibiting any overt or covert stuttering symptoms or using therapeutic strategies to modify speech and no longer being viewed by themselves or anyone else as a 'stutterer'). A questionnaire was sent to 290 speech and language therapists providing stuttering therapy to children attending school in North Carolina, USA, in a system similar to what can be found in many other US states. It addressed therapeutic efficacy in the management of stuttering: the numbers of stuttering children treated and those perceived to be recovered, the therapeutic methods, the time spent in practice, therapy durations and schedules. Usable questionnaires were returned by 101 respondents who reported treating a total of 2036 children who stutter. They reported using a full array of techniques known to reduce stuttering. The median reported recovery rate among respondents was 13.9%. Twenty-eight respondents reported no recoveries whatsoever, and 81 reported five recoveries or fewer. The median time spent on a caseload was 3 years. In addition, longer practising therapists reported significantly higher recover rates than those with less time practising. Remission from stuttering in children being treated in the schools of North Carolina appears to be the exception rather than the rule. The reported recovery rates suggest that not much is being done therapeutically to help children recover from stuttering. The chance of recovery decreases with age, and speech therapy for children who stutter appears to do little to improve their odds of recovery. Speech and language therapists treating these children either do not possess the tools or the tools do not yet exist to change 'nature's recovery agendum' and put children who stutter on the path towards natural sounding, fluent and spontaneous in all situations. As such, the provision of therapy, in North Carolina at least, does not yet allow for stuttering children to shed the label of 'stutterer', in their own eyes and in the eyes of all others for the rest of their lives. In light of these data, the authors suggest re-examining the tools, policies and procedures used in the treatment of stuttering children.

A semantic network dictionary for dysphasia therapy

With the use of computer-assisted teaching and learning programs the speech therapy of children with dysphasia can be planned more effectively, than with the traditional, so-called prompted-image m...