This study examined word level intelligibility differences between DECTalk and MacinTalk speech synthesizers using the Modified Rhyme Test in an open format transcription task. Three groups of listeners participated: inexperienced listeners, speech-language pathologists, and speech synthesis experts. Within each group, listeners had higher…

A study that investigated the coping strategies of 20 females with children (ages birth-4) with speech and language impairments found that most utilized effective coping strategies. Adaptive behaviors included liking the company of other people, feeling liked by others, awareness of the feelings of others, and a sense of happiness. (Author/CR)

A survey of speech and hearing difficulties exhibited by children in 73 government primary schools in Barbados was conducted. Approximately 5 percent of the children were found to have hearing difficulties and 24 percent to have speech difficulties, higher than that of some other countries. Recommendations are discussed. (Contains references.) (CR)

Seventeen children (ages 6-11) with developmental apraxia of speech were administered tests of identification and discrimination of resynthesized and synthesized monosyllabic words differing in place of articulation of the initial voiced stop consonants and intensity of the third formant. Results indicated no phonetic processing deficit in…

A study examined long-term changes in articulation rate and phonetic phrase length in the conversational speech of two groups of preschool children (n=53) with speech delay. Follow-up at age 9 and at age 12-16 found articulation rates were improved from initial testing and were similar to typical children. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

A follow-up study of 71 adolescents with preschool histories of speech-language impairments found children whose language problems had been resolved by ages 5 to 6 did not differ from controls on tests of vocabulary and language-comprehension skills, however, they performed significantly less well on tests of phonological processing and literacy…

Tests of phonology, semantics, and syntax were administered to 52 preschool children (ages 4-6) with speech sound disorders. Language impairment at school-age (ages 8-11) related to poor performance on preschool tests of syntax and nonsense word repetition, while reading impairment was predicted by poor performance in all preschool test domains.…

A panel of speech professionals was randomly presented with speech samples from four neurogenic and four developmental stutterers and was asked to classify them accordingly without any patient knowledge. Results support the view that, based on the patient's verbal output only, it is difficult to distinguish between neurogenic and developmental…

Background: Studies from the amnesia literature suggest that errorless learning can produce superior results to errorful learning. However, it was found in a previous investigation by the present authors that errorless and errorful therapy produced equivalent results for patients with aphasic word-finding difficulties. A study in the academic…

Several factors have been shown to influence inclusion of children with special educational needs. This paper reports on findings from a questionnaire investigating training, specialist knowledge, confidence, attitudes and beliefs of the Reception class, Year 1, and Year 2 teachers of a cohort of children with a preschool diagnosis of moderate or…

This study involved perceptions of bullying in six Year 7 children attending a speech and language base part-time and the perceptions of their mainstream peers without speech and language problems. Base-taught children and mainstreamed peers completed a bullying questionnaire and a social inclusion survey. Base-taught children with language…

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare and complex disorder associated with anxiety symptoms and speech-language deficits; however, the nature of these language deficits has not been studied systematically. A novel cross-disciplinary assessment protocol was used to assess anxiety and nonverbal cognitive, receptive language, and expressive narrative…

Phonological awareness is a term that refers to one's knowledge of the sound structure of spoken language. Children who understand that sounds in language represent the letters used in reading and writing typically learn to read more easily than children who do not. Children with language and/or speech impairments often demonstrate a lack of…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of phonological neighborhood density on the speech reaction time (SRT) and errors of children who do and do not stutter during a picture-naming task. Participants were nine 3-5-year-old children who stutter (CWS) matched in age and gender to nine children who do not stutter (CWNS). Initial…

Proposes a method of analyzing the spontaneous speech of severely agrammatic patients. The method employed involves the description and analysis of a male patient's video-recorded conversation with a speech therapist. Preliminary conclusions indicate the presence of some linguistic mechanisms underlying normal syntactic processing. (32 references)…