Worldwide, 15 million babies are "born too soon" every year (Blencowe et al., 2012; Howson et al., 2013). Remarkably, prematurity survival rates now exceed 93% across all countries. More than 360,000 preterm babies survived in the United States in 2020; 10% of all births (Blencowe et al., 2012; Howson et al., 2013). While this is an…

The authors surveyed 64 Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists (LSLS Cert. AVTs) who mentor professionals seeking certification. Mentors answered questions regarding demographic characteristics, the organization and delivery of mentoring practice, and challenges and solutions faced by mentors. This group of…

A program of individual therapy to reduce harsh/tense voice quality was evaluated with ten deaf adults (ages 19-35 years). (Author/DLS)

A taxonomy of computer-based speech training systems is presented, based on the physical source of feedback, standards of evaluation, level and type of detail on which feedback is based, and the form and instructional context of feedback. Reasons for selecting a particular approach are discussed in relation to existing systems. (Author/JDD)

The efficacy of speech training using meaningful versus nonmeaningful verbal stimuli with 10 severely and profoundly hearing-impaired elementary children was investigated. Results indicated that both syllable and word training improved imitative production of target phonemes in trained contexts. Word training was significantly more effective for…

This research review on tactual communication of speech discusses methods of communication intended for the tactual sense alone, issues related to tactual input as a supplement for speechreading, and issues related to developing new synthetic tactual aids and the roles such aids could play in treating people with profound hearing loss. (Author/JDD)

The paper describes one application of D. Ling's principles and methods in the context of the overall speech program at a school for the hearing impaired. The program features an interdisciplinary approach, consisting of inservice training and specific program design. (Author)

Laboratory results are presented which suggest that hearing-impaired individuals' speech perception can be enhanced through use of tactile aids with a number of tactile transducers conveying information about the spectral content of the speech signal, and speech production can be improved through experience using a multichannel tactile aid.…

The relative effectiveness of individual speech therapy (8 students) versus small group therapy (18 students) was evaluated with hearing impaired young adults who had articulation problems. Articulation skill mastery, improvement in speech intelligibility, and quantity and type of utterances were examined. Only quantity of utterances distinguished…

Twenty severely to profoundly hearing-impaired high school students (ages 15-19) evidenced marked improvement in average vocal pitch after implementation of a systematic curriculum that integrated visual and tactile sensory aids into daily speech training. Those using a visual display showed greatest progress. The eight participating teachers…

Sixteen children with moderate to profound sensorineural hearing loss were trained on the production and auditory perception of sibilants over two 2-week periods. Perception performance improved significantly during training periods with a small amount of carryover to non-training contrast periods. Improvements in production performance occurred…

A voice training program to improve pitch register was developed for profoundly hearing-impaired young adults. Ten students of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf completed the program; results showed a significant reduction in pitch level, as well as improvement in pitch control and word intelligibility. (Author/JDD)

Design considerations for speech training systems include the types of information about speech to be used in training, whether acoustic or physiologic; and the use of models of speech production, whether partially perceptual and partially knowledge-based or explicit data-based models. A taxonomy of speech training systems is presented.…

The paper describes dynamic orometric instrumentation and procedures developed to measure, display, and guide changes in vowel and consonant production through visual articulatory modeling and feedback routines. Sensors are placed in the mouth to detect tongue shapes, positions, and actions during speech of hearing-impaired talkers, and online…

A survey of 60 United States schools and programs currently using Cued Speech with hearing-impaired individuals found that the tool is used in both oral and total communication environments. The survey collected data on demographics, types of programs, number of students using Cued Speech, methodologies employed, and support services offered.…