Modification of breath patterning to increase naturalness of a mildly dysarthric speaker

The case of a 20-year-old, closed head injured male with mild dysarthria is presented. The decreased naturalness of speech was related to short, uniform breath groups, inhalation during every pause, and restricted fundamental frequency. Data related to patterns of breathing and pausing during samples of connected speech along with measures of respiratory control are presented in order to illustrate techniques for assessing and training speech naturalness.