Abstract

Previous research has investigated adults' ability to adapt their speech when a electropalatographic (EPG) pseudopalate is placed in the oral cavity; however, less is known about how younger speakers who are continuing to develop their motor speech abilities might adapt their speech to the presence of the device. This study examined the effect of an EPG pseudopalate on elementary school-aged children's ability to produce the fricatives /s/ and /ƒ/. Audio recordings of six children were collected at eight time intervals including before placement of the pseudopalate, at 30-minute increments for two hours with the pseudopalate in place, immediately following removal of the pseudopalate and 30 minutes after removal. An acoustic analysis was completed looking at consonant duration, spectral mean, spectral variance, and relative intensity. Disturbance of speech patterns from the presence of the pseudopalate was noted for most of the acoustic measures, most noticeably for the relative intensity of both /s/ and /ƒ/, as well as for the spectral mean and spectral variance of /ƒ/. Although there was a relatively high amount of variability among and within speakers, signs of adaptation were apparent after only 30 minutes for some participants. For some acoustic measures, however, full adaptation often did not occur until the pseudopalate was removed. Although future research is needed, it is hoped that this study will provide a greater understanding of children's ability to adapt to the EPG pseudopalate.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders

Rights

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