This study of the longitudinal speech performance of 48 cleft palate speakers with marginal velopharyngeal competence, from age 6 to adolescence, found that the adolescent subjects' velopharyngeal status could be predicted based on 2 variables at age 6: the severity ratings of articulation defectiveness and nasality. (Author/JDD)

The longitudinal study compared the speech of two children (beginning at age 3) with cleft palate and inadequate velopharyngeal closure in an attempt to identify the patterns of production observed prior to surgery and the course and rate of change in production following surgery. Subjects' speech samples were evaluated prior to pharyngeal flap…

Described are the rationale, procedures, and evaluation results of a 3-year-project in which paraprofessionals were trained to administer programed materials to students (in grades 1-5) who had articulatory errors. Evaluation of the program's effectiveness with 134 students is said to have revealed a total correction rate of 83.5 percent for the…

An experimental public school speech therapy program is described, which offers automated, programed instruction in sound production and auditory training. The experiment includes self-teaching methods, as well as utilization of paraprofessional personnel under the supervision of a qualified speech therapist. Although the automated program was…

To determine the effectiveness of group articulation therapy, 180 educable retarded children in special classes (average age 9, average IQ 70), all of whom had articulation problems, were rated on the Carter/Buck Prognostic Speech Test and a picture version of McDonald's deep test of articulation. Subjects were then randomly assigned to one of…

Reported are the results of the National Speech and Hearing Survey conducted to estimate the prevalence of speech and hearing disorders in the public school populations, grades 1-12, in coterminous United States, and to obtain descriptive information about normal and abnormal speech and hearing behavior. Results of the survey, involving…

Analyzed was the performance of 36 third grade children with various reading and articulation skills in blending selected syllables across three modes of presentation. Ss were divided into three groups: one with normal reading and speech skills, one with below grade-level reading skills and normal speech skills, and one with grade-level reading…

Measurements of lingual two-point discrimination, oral form discrimination, and alternate motion rate of the tongue were made in 15 adolescents who had normal articulation, 15 adolescents who misarticulated /s/, and 15 adolescents who misarticulated /r/. (Author)

After 20 second-grade lisping children were taught to articulate /s/ and /z/ correctly, each child invited three classmates to a session in which classmates could earn tokens contingent on the target child's correct articulation. Target children in groups using a response cost procedure produced significantly more correct responses. (Author/KM)

Conversational speech samples from 33 two-year-olds were analyzed to determine word and syllable shapes produced, inventories of initial and final consonantal phones, and percentage of consonants correct. A profile of the normally developing two-year-old's range of sounds and structures is presented to aid assessment of young children with…

Though frequently defined as the difference between spontaneous and imitative testing responses, additional clinical procedures for the evaluation of stimulability are reviewed. The clinical implications of isolated sound, syllable, and word-level stimulability are also discussed. (Author/DLS)

Research reports on the nature of speech, instrumentation for the investigation of speech, and practical applications of research are included in this status report for the July 1-December 31, 1980, period. The 19 reports deal with the following topics: (1) the structuring of language; (2) whether movements are prepared in parts; (3)…