Teaching voiced velar stops to profoundly deaf children, using EPG?two case studies

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Audiology
• Deaf education

Background:

• Older deaf children often exhibit unintelligible speech despite early amplification and auditory training.
• Effective speech-teaching techniques and realistic therapy goals are crucial for improving speech in deaf children.
• Traditional therapy methods have limitations in addressing specific articulation challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the efficacy of electropalatography (EPG) in teaching articulation skills to profoundly deaf children.
• To assess the impact of EPG on the production of initial voiced velar stops in familiar phrases.
• To evaluate the generalization of speech skills and impact on intelligibility in deaf learners.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving two 10-year-old profoundly deaf children.
• Utilized electropalatography (EPG) to teach the articulation of initial voiced velar stops.
• Therapy focused on familiar phrases over a 2-month period.

Main Results:

• Electropalatography (EPG) yielded positively significant results in improving articulation.
• Some generalization of learned speech skills was observed when reading untaught targets.
• Untrained listeners rated post-therapy utterances as more intelligible.

Conclusions:

• Electropalatography (EPG) is a promising technique for improving speech intelligibility in older deaf children.
• The study highlights the potential of EPG to overcome limitations of traditional speech therapy methods.
• Further research is needed to assess long-term generalization and sustained effects on intelligibility.