Keywords

Electropalatography, articulation, tongue, speech

Abstract

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is an acquired motor speech disorder characterized by difficulty producing speech sounds caused by deficits in motor planning. Various tools exist to examine the physiologic aspects of articulation. Unfortunately, very few physiologic studies of AOS have been conducted. Electropalatography (EPG) is one method for examining the tongue's role in articulation by measuring tongue-to-palate contact. However, there is limited research examining the articulatory changes that are attributable to repeated exposure with wearing the pseudopalate as well as desensitization to the pseudopalate. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the impact of repeated measurement using EPG with and without desensitization. Three speakers with AOS and three with normal speech production participated in this study. Stimuli were composed of vowel--consonant--vowel nonsense words with four stop consonants /t, d, k, g/. Data were collected on three sampling occasions with a period of desensitization after the initial sampling occasion. EPG data analyses included maximal contact and variability index to compare performance across time and between populations. Overall, speakers with AOS exhibited greater variability for both measures compared with normal speakers. Findings indicate that desensitization did not result in any obvious changes in EPG measures on subsequent sampling occasions.

Original Publication Citation

Mauszycki, S.C., Wambaugh, J.L. & Dromey, C. (2012). Electropalatographic measures of stop consonants in speakers with and without apraxia of speech on repeated sampling occasions. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology 20, 77-81

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2012

Publisher

Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology

Language

English

College

David O. McKay School of Education

Department

Communication Disorders

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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