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Changes in speech production associated with alphabet supplementation.
Katherine C Hustad1, Jimin Lee
1Department of Communicative Disorders and the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1500 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53705, USA. kchustad@wisc.edu
Summary
Alphabet supplementation (AS) improved speech intelligibility and altered temporal and spectral features in individuals with cerebral palsy and dysarthria. Spectral changes in vowels were more impactful than temporal adjustments for enhanced speech production.
Area of Science:
- Speech-language pathology
- Neurology
- Acoustic phonetics
Background:
- Cerebral palsy (CP) often leads to dysarthria, affecting speech production.
- Individuals with CP and dysarthria experience challenges with speech intelligibility and clarity.
- Alphabet supplementation (AS) is an augmentative technique that may influence speech characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of alphabet supplementation (AS) on temporal and spectral aspects of speech.
- To analyze changes in intelligibility, speech rate, and acoustic parameters in speakers with dysarthria using AS.
- To determine the relationship between spectral changes, temporal changes, and intelligibility.
Main Methods:
- Twelve speakers with dysarthria produced speech samples with and without AS.
- Orthographic transcription by 120 listeners assessed intelligibility.
- Acoustic analysis examined speech rate, durations, pause frequency, vowel space, and formant frequencies (F1, F2) for corner vowels.
Main Results:
- Alphabet supplementation (AS) resulted in higher intelligibility, slower speech rate, and increased pauses.
- Significant increases in vowel duration, word duration, and vowel space were observed with AS.
- Spectral changes, specifically reduced F2 for /u/, accompanied vowel space alterations, with vowel space being a stronger predictor of intelligibility for AS speech.
Conclusions:
- Alphabet supplementation (AS) induces significant temporal and spectral modifications in speech production for individuals with dysarthria.
- Spectral changes in corner vowels appear to play a more critical role in intelligibility improvements than temporal modifications.
- Findings suggest AS can be a beneficial intervention for enhancing speech production in dysarthria.
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