Electropalatography in the treatment of articulation/phonological disorders

Treatment using electropalatography (EPG) is described. Speech learners wear a custom-made appliance called a pseudopalate in order to view their tongue-to-palate (lingual palatal) contacts on a computer monitor. The results from studies with children who have either articulation or phonology-based problems are discussed. Assessments of contact patterns used by articulation-impaired children suggests that they may produce more atypical articulatory contacts than are noted perceptually. Remediation, using electropalatography, showed that the children benefited from learning new articulatory gestures rather than learning to correct isolated errors. Studies with phonologically-impaired children have shown that perceptually neutralized (or non-contrasted) sounds may actually be produced with consistent articulatory contrasts. This knowledge could assist in identifying sounds that might soon emerge and be more responsive to therapy. Training studies with phonologically-impaired children have shown that a motor approach using sound contrasts to teach a phonetic inventory is an effective way to assist these children. Considerations for candidacy for EPG training are also discussed.