In order to better evaluate students with voice disorders, maximum and mean phonation times as a function of coaching were obtained from 28 nonhandicapped third-grade girls. Coaching during the voiced prolongations produced significantly longer maximum and mean phonation times but did not reduce within-subject variability. (Author/DB)

Fifteen randomly selected public school elementary teachers participated in training sessions on voice disorders. Analysis of scores on ratings of voice disorder samples revealed that Ss made significantly fewer errors than a control group. The trained group agreed with speech pathologist judges 74 percent of the time. (CL)

In light of the proposal that a ratio of the maximum duration of sustained /s/ to /z/ sounds may be useful in determining the possible contributions of the respiratory and vocal mechanisms to a disordered voice, a study of /s/ and /z/ maximum phoneme duration in normal five-, seven-, and nine-year-olds was conducted. (Author/DLS)

Thirty-six chronically hoarse children (mean age nine) with nodules were found to be similar to those without nodules on various perceptual measures. Twenty of thirty of these children showed improvements after a year of rehabilitation in the public schools; improvement varied according to the abilities of individual clinicians. (Author/CL)

The maximum phoneme duration (MPD) of /s/ and /z/ task was measured for eight male and eight female children with diagnosed vocal nodules. Found that vocal nodules do not affect MPD s/z ratio, whereas the durations of /s/ and /z/ and the variance observed across multiple productions of /z/ are affected and should be considered as diagnostically…

Thirty-eight elementary grade school children with hoarse voices participated in a six-lesson, cartoon-illustrated vocal hygiene program that provided information concerning the human voice, voice quality, vocal abuse, and proper use of the voice. (Author)

The study investigated (1) the reliability of children's (N=10 in grades 1, 3, and 5) judgments of vocal roughness, (2) normal-abnormal cut-off values for these judgments, and (3) children's ratings versus adult clinician ratings of the same samples. Results indicated child judgments commensurate with that of clinicians. (Author/DB)

This study evaluated the voiced/voiceless phonation time for /s/ and /z/ for 11 children (ages 5-10) with vocal pathology and 11 normal speaking children. Results showed no difference in /s/ durations between groups, but /z/ durations and s/z ratios were significantly different. Results are discussed in relation to task construction, instructional…

As a portion of a community service program for childhood communicative development, 999 sixth-to-eighth grade children were screened for speech and voice problems. (PHR)

This study examined the interaction of ambient frequency and feature complexity in the diphthong errors produced by 13 Cantonese-speaking children with phonological disorders. Perceptual analysis of 611 diphthongs identified those most frequently and least frequently in error. Suggested treatment guidelines include consideration of three factors:…

Voice range profiles (VRP) were analyzed according to 11 frequency, intensity, and morphological characteristics for 94 typical children and 136 children with vocal fold pathologies (ages 6-11). Normative data are presented showing marked differences between the groups. The use of the VRP Index for Children for screening is discussed. (Author/CR)

Classroom teachers join with speech-language pathologists to solve problems suffered by students with speech and language disorders. (RK)

The study examined 2 procedures--the ABX Test and the Oddity Task--for assessing the perception of 25 elementary grade phonologically disordered children of their own speech error sounds. Findings indicated both measures were promising and aided in identifying children whose perceptual errors influenced their speech-sound production. (DB)