Browsing by Person "Timmins, Claire"

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A perceptual and electropalatographic study of /∫/ in young people with Down's syndrome
(2009-12) Timmins, Claire; Cleland, Joanne; Wood, Sara; Hardcastle, William J.; Wishart, Jennifer
Speech production in young people with Down's syndrome has been found to be variable and inconsistent. Errors tend to be more in the production of sounds that typically develop later, for example, fricatives and affricates, rather than stops and nasals. It has been suggested that inconsistency in production is a result of a motor speech deficit. Late acquired fricatives such as /s/ and /∫/ are complex articulations, which may require more precise motor programming and may therefore show highly inconsistent productions. Other factors potentially affecting speech production in this population are abnormal palatal structure, hearing loss, and hypotonia. A group of 20 young people with Down's syndrome were recorded using Electropalatography (EPG), reading a wordlist containing the phrase ‘a sheep’. The wordlist contained seven other phrases and was repeated 10 times. Eight typically developing, cognitively matched children and eight adults were also recorded producing the same data set. Articulatory (EPG pattern analysis) and perceptual analyses of the 10 productions of /∫/ were carried out. /∫/ production was found to be inconsistent in the young people with Down's syndrome, with more errors both in the auditory analysis and articulatory analysis than in the typical sample, which may be due to a motor programming or motor control problem. There were a greater number of errors in the EPG analysis than in the perceptual analysis. This suggests that some young people with DS were able to produce perceptually acceptable /∫/ with atypical EPG patterns. The use of typical, adult-modelled /∫/ EPG patterns in therapy may be inappropriate for some children with DS who present with atypical palatal structures.
An EPG analysis of /t/ in young people with Down's syndrome
(Taylor and Francis, 2011-11) Timmins, Claire; Hardcastle, William J.; Wood, Sara; Cleland, Joanne
Many studies have pointed to impaired speech intelligibility in young people with Down's syndrome (DS). Some have attributed these problems to delayed phonological development, while others have identified disordered speech patterns, which could be related to a dyspraxic element in their speech. This study uses electropalatography (EPG) to examine the speech of 25 young people with DS, focusing on their production of the obstruent /t/. For the EPG analysis, participants produced the target obstruent in the word 'toe', repeated 10 times. An investigative analysis was carried out. A new descriptive taxonomy of EPG error patterns was developed and these errors were related to perceptually based transcriptions. The measures are discussed in relation to current knowledge of the anatomical and physiological characteristics of DS.
Articulatory characteristics of sibilant production in young people with Down's syndrome
(Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, 2014) Timmins, Claire
Speech production in children with Down’s syndrome (DS) has been found to be variable and inconsistent. Errors are concentrated in consonants that are typically late developing, such as fricatives. It has been suggested that inconsistency in speech production in DS is a result of a motor speech deficit but there is little detailed articulatory evidence to support this claim. This study (with data from MRC grant ‘Assessment and Treatment of Impaired Speech Motor Control in Children with Down's syndrome’ (G0401388)) provides a detailed phonetic analysis of the voiceless sibilants /s/ and /ʃ/, in a group of young people with DS, by means of auditory and articulatory analysis. The aim of the study is to assess fine motor ability and articulation variability at word level production in a group of speakers with well-established difficulties in speech articulation. The study analysed data from 25 children with DS, 10 typically developing children and 8 adult speakers, recorded using EPG. Perceptual measures were compared with quantitative analyses of EPG data, along with visual analysis of articulation patterns based on a new set of articulation taxonomies. The data is presented by group and in the form of 5 case studies. The case studies provide a means to analyse the relationship between articulation and auditory information in detail and to compare these with supplementary motor control measures. The results show presence of atypical articulation patterns for speakers with DS for both perceptually acceptable tokens, and those in error. Higher levels of within-speaker articulation variability are presented in comparison to the TD control group. Further findings suggest presence of articulation patterns in the TD speakers previously unidentified in EPG studies. Similar to previous studies, the results find that speakers with DS are a highly variable group and that speakers display a combination of typical and atypical speech patterns, influenced by speech motor control difficulties.
Dynamic Dialects: an articulatory web resource for the study of accents [website]
(University of Glasgow, 2015-04-01) Lawson, Eleanor; Stuart-Smith, Jane; Scobbie, James M.; Nakai, Satsuki; Beavan, David; Edmonds, Fiona; Edmonds, Iain; Turk, Alice; Timmins, Claire; Beck, Janet M.; Esling, John; Leplatre, Gregory; Cowen, Steve; Barras, Will; Durham, Mercedes
Dynamic Dialects (www.dynamicdialects.ac.uk) is an accent database, containing an articulatory video-based corpus of speech samples from world-wide accents of English. Videos in this corpus contain synchronised audio, ultrasound-tongue-imaging video and video of the moving lips. We are continuing to augment this resource. Dynamic Dialects is the product of a collaboration between researchers at the University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret University Edinburgh, University College London and Napier University, Edinburgh. For modelled International Phonetic Association speech samples produced by trained phoneticians, please go to the sister site http://www.SeeingSpeech.ac.uk
Improving the Speech and Communication Abilities of Children with Down's Syndrome: A New Model of Service Delivery using Electropalatography
(CASL Research Centre, 2016-05) Wood, Sara; Timmins, Claire; Grayson, Zoe; Nuffield Foundation
Down's syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic cause of mild to moderate learning difficulties (LD), affecting 1 in every 1000 live births in the UK (Down's Syndrome Association, 2015). The speech skills of individuals with DS are poorer than would be anticipated in relation to both their general cognitive ability and their skills in expressive language (Roberts et al., 2007). These specific difficulties in speech production can lead to significantly reduced intelligibility (Kumin, 2006) which in turn affects the ability to communicate effectively. This often places considerable constraints on educational progress, affects friendship formation and impedes integration into the wider community. The specific speech production difficulties encountered by individuals with DS are often considered to be intractable as they have proved to be resistant to conventional methods of intervention delivered by speech and language therapists (Kumin, 2006). These difficulties persist into adulthood which can negatively impact life outcomes, affect employability and contribute to social exclusion (Shriberg & Widder, 1990). Our previous research funded by the Medical Research Council investigated the speech difficulties experienced by 27 children and young people, aged 9 to 18 years, with DS. As well as increasing our understanding of the types of speech errors made by this population, it experimented with the use of an intervention technique called electropalatography (EPG), not currently routinely available within the NHS, as a method of correcting speech errors in children with DS with a view to improving their intelligibility. The results from this previous research led to the grant funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
Relationship between speech, oromotor, language and cognitive abilities in children with Down's syndrome
(2010-01) Cleland, Joanne; Wood, Sara; Hardcastle, William J.; Wishart, Jennifer; Timmins, Claire
Background: Children and young people with Down's syndrome present with deficits in expressive speech and language, accompanied by strengths in vocabulary comprehension compared with non-verbal mental age. Intelligibility is particularly low, but whether speech is delayed or disordered is a controversial topic. Most studies suggest a delay, but no studies explore the relationship between cognitive or language skills and intelligibility. Aims: This study sought to determine whether severity of speech disorder correlates with language and cognitive level and to classify the types of errors, developmental or non-developmental, that occur in the speech of children and adolescents with Down's syndrome. Methods & Procedures: Fifteen children and adolescents with Down's syndrome (aged 9-18 years) were recruited. Participants completed a battery of standardized speech, language and cognitive assessments. The phonology assessment was subject to phonological and phonetic analyses. Results from each test were correlated to determine relationships. Outcome & Results: Individuals with Down's syndrome present with deficits in receptive and expressive language that are not wholly accounted for by their cognitive delay. Receptive vocabulary is a strength in comparison with expressive and receptive language skills, but it was unclear from the findings whether it is more advanced compared with non-verbal cognitive skills. The majority of speech errors were developmental in nature, but all of the children with Down's syndrome showed at least one atypical or non-developmental speech error. Conclusions & Implications: Children with Down's syndrome present with speech disorders characterized by atypical, and often unusual, errors alongside many developmental errors. A lack of correlation between speech and cognition or language measures suggests that the speech disorder in Down's syndrome is not simply due to cognitive delay. Better differential diagnosis of speech disorders in Down's syndrome is required, allowing interventions to target the specific disorder in each individual.
Seeing Speech: an articulatory web resource for the study of phonetics [website]
(University of Glasgow, 2015-04-01) Lawson, Eleanor; Stuart-Smith, Jane; Scobbie, James M.; Nakai, Satsuki; Beavan, David; Edmonds, Fiona; Edmonds, Iain; Turk, Alice; Timmins, Claire; Beck, Janet M.; Esling, John; Leplatre, Gregory; Cowen, Steve; Barras, Will; Durham, Mercedes
Seeing Speech (www.seeingspeech.ac.uk) is a web-based audiovisual resource which provides teachers and students of Practical Phonetics with ultrasound tongue imaging (UTI) video of speech, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) video of speech and 2D midsagittal head animations based on MRI and UTI data. The model speakers are Dr Janet Beck of Queen Margaret University (Scotland) and Dr John Esling of University of Victoria (Canada). The first phase of this resource began in July 2011 and was completed in September 2013. Further funding was obtained in 2014 to improve and augment this resource (this version) and to develop its sister site Dynamic Dialects. The website contains two main resources: An introduction to UTI, MRI vocal tract imaging techniques and information about the production of the articulatory animations. Clickable International Phonetic Association charts links to UTI, MRI and animated speech articulator video. This online resource is a product of the collaboration between researchers at six Scottish Universities: The University of Glasgow, Queen Margaret University, Napier University, the University of Strathclyde, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Aberdeen; as well as scholars from University College London and Cardiff University. For examples of various dialects of English, please go to the sister site http://www.dynamicdialects.ac.uk
Sex and gender differences in Glaswegian /s/
(2003) Stuart-Smith, Jane; Timmins, Claire; Wrench, Alan A.
This paper presents the results of an acoustic analysis of /s/ as produced by a socially-stratified sample of 31 speakers of Glaswegian. Single spectral and whole spectrum measures together confirm a consistent effect of sex, whilst interactions of age and class in the same measures suggest that acoustic patterns indexical of gender are also present.
Spatial & temporal variability of sibilants in children with down's syndrome
(University of Glasgow: Glasgow, 2015-08-10) Timmins, Claire; Wood, Sara
This paper presents findings from EPG analysis of word initial /s/ and // in twenty five children with Down's syndrome (DS) and ten cognitively age-matched typically developing children (TD). Spatial and temporal variability measures show evidence of increased variability in all attempts of target /s/ and // for the speakers with DS. The findings also show evidence of high levels of spatial variability in children with DS and typically developing children in perceptually acceptable productions of the target sounds. These findings support previous research that links speech production difficulties in children with DS to impaired speech motor ability.
Speech Production in Down Syndrome
(2009) Timmins, Claire; Cleland, Joanne; Rodger, Rebecca; Wishart, Jennifer; Wood, Sara; Hardcastle, William J.
Television can also be a factor in language change: Evidence from an urban dialect
(2013-09) Stuart-Smith, Jane; Timmins, Claire; Pryce, Gwilym; Gunter, Barrie
The relationship between speech, oromotor, language and cognitive abilities in children with Down's syndrome.
(Queen Margaret University, 2008) McCann, Joanne; Wood, Sara; Hardcastle, William J.; Wishart, Jennifer; Timmins, Claire
Background: Children and young people with Down's syndrome (DS) present with deficits in expressive speech and language, accompanied by strengths in vocabulary comprehension compared to nonverbal mental age. Speech intelligibility is particularly impaired, but whether speech is delayed or disordered is a controversial topic. Most studies suggest a delay, but no studies explore the relationship between cognitive or language skills and intelligibility. This study sought to determine whether severity of speech disorder correlates with language and cognitive level and to describe the types of errors, developmental or non-developmental, that occur in the speech of children and adolescents with DS. Methods & Procedures: 15 children and adolescents with DS (aged 10 to 18) were recruited. Participants completed a battery of standardised speech, language and cognitive assessments. The phonology assessment was subject to process analyses. Results from each test were correlated to determine relationships. Outcome & Results: People with DS present with deficits in receptive and expressive language that is not wholly accounted for by their cognitive delay. Receptive vocabulary is a strength in comparison to language skills, but it was unclear whether it is more advanced compared to non-verbal cognitive skills. The majority of speech errors were developmental in nature but all of the children with DS showed at least one atypical or non-developmental speech error.Conclusions: Children with DS present with speech disorders characterised by (often unusual) atypical errors alongside many developmental errors. Lack of correlation between speech and cognition or language suggests that the speech disorder in Down's syndrome is not simply due to cognitive delay.
The use of electropalatography (EPG) in the assessment and treatment of motor speech disorders in children with Down's syndrome: Evidence from two case studies
(2009-04) Wood, Sara; Wishart, Jennifer; Hardcastle, William J.; Cleland, Joanne; Timmins, Claire
Background: Many children experience significant difficulties in developing key aspects of speech. For some, these communication difficulties are compounded by co-occurring intellectual disabilities. Method: This paper presents two case studies from a larger on-going longitudinal study of the effectiveness of using electropalatography (EPG) to address the intelligibility problems experienced by many children and young people with Down's syndrome (DS). EPG, an innovative computer-based tool for assessing and treating speech motor difficulties, enables the speaker to 'see' the placement of his or her tongue during speech and to attempt to correct any lingual palatal errors. Results: This visual supplementation of auditory feedback offers potential therapeutic benefits for children with intellectual disabilities, many of whom show relative strengths in visual vs. auditory and simultaneous vs. sequential processing. EPG also provides therapists with an objective measure of articulatory ability. Conclusions: Findings from these two case studies demonstrate the potential utility of EPG in both the assessment and treatment of speech motor disorders in DS.
The use of electropalatography in the treatment of speech disorders in children with Down Syndrome: a randomised controlled trial
(2018-07-24) Wood, Sara; Timmins, Claire; Wishart, Jennifer; Hardcastle, William J.; Cleland, Joanne
Background: Electropalatography (EPG) records details of the location and timing of tongue contacts with the hard palate during speech. It has been effective in treating articulation disorders that have failed to respond to conventional therapy approaches but, until now, its use with children and adolescents with intellectual/learning disabilities and speech disorders has been limited. Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of EPG in the treatment of speech production difficulties in children and adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) aged 8-18 years. Methods: Twenty-seven children with DS were assessed on a range of cognitive and speech and language measures and underwent additional EPG assessment. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three age-matched groups receiving either EPG therapy, EPG-informed conventional therapy or ‘treatment as usual’ over a 12 week period. The speech of all children was assessed before therapy using the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP: Dodd et al. 2002) and re-assessed immediately post- and 3- and 6-month post-intervention to measure percent consonants correct (PCC). EPG recordings were made of the DEAP assessment items at all time-points. Percent intelligibility was also calculated using the Children’s Speech Intelligibility Measure (CSIM: Wilcox and Morris 1999). Results: Gains in accuracy of production immediately post-therapy, as measured by PCC, were seen for all groups. Reassessment at 3- and 6-month post-therapy revealed that those who had received therapy based directly on EPG visual feedback were more likely to maintain and improve on these gains compared to the other groups. Statistical testing showed significant differences between groups in DEAP scores across time-points although the majority did not survive post hoc evaluation. Intelligibility across time-points, as measured by CSIM, was also highly variable within and between the three groups, but despite significant correlations between DEAP and CSIM at all time-points, no statistically significant group differences emerged. Conclusions and implications: EPG was an effective intervention tool for improving speech production in many participants. This may be because it capitalizes on the relative strength of visual over auditory processing in this client group. The findings would seem to warrant an increased focus on addressing speech production difficulties in current therapy
Using Electropalatography (EPG) in the assessment and treatment of developmental motor speech disorders: Linking basic and applied research
(Queen Margaret University, 2008) Wood, Sara; Wishart, Jennifer; Hardcastle, William J.; McCann, Joanne; Timmins, Claire
Many children experience significant difficulties in developing key aspects of speech. For some, these communication difficulties are compounded by co-occurring intellectual disabilities. This paper presents two case studies from a larger on-going longitudinal study of the effectiveness of using electropalatography (EPG) to address the intelligibility problems experienced by many children and young people with Down's syndrome (DS). EPG, an innovative computer-based tool for assessing and treating speech motor difficulties, enables the speaker to see- the placement of his or her tongue during speech and to attempt to correct any lingual palatal errors. This visual supplementation of auditory feedback offers potential therapeutic benefits for children with intellectual disabilities, many of whom show relative strengths in visual versus auditory and simultaneous versus sequential processing (e.g. [1]). EPG also provides therapists with an objective measure of articulatory ability. Findings from these two case studies demonstrate the potential utility of EPG in both the assessment and treatment of speech motor disorders in DS.
Variability in fricative production of young people with Down's syndrome : an EPG analysis
(2007-08) Timmins, Claire; Hardcastle, William J.; Wood, Sara; McCann, Joanne; Wishart, Jennifer; Acknowledgements: MRC grant no. G0401388
Speech production in Down's syndrome is highly variable, with particular problems arising from complex articulations such as fricatives. In this paper, EPG analysis is used to study the variation in the production of the fricatives /s/ and /sh/ in 6 young people with Down's syndrome. The variability of these productions is compared with information from the Robbins and Klee Oral/Speech Motor Control Protocol.