Browsing by Person "Wood, Sara"

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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.
Advances in EPG for treatment and research: an illustrative case study
(Taylor & Francis, 2004) Scobbie, James M.; Wood, Sara; Wrench, Alan A.
Electropalatography (EPG), a technique which reveals tongue-palate contact patterns over time, is a highly effective tool for speech research. We report here on recent developments by Articulate Instruments Ltd. These include hardware for Windows-based computers, backwardly compatible (with Reading EPG3) software systems for clinical intervention and laboratory-based analysis for EPG and acoustic data, and an enhanced clinical interface with client and file management tools. We focus here on a single case study of a child aged 10 years who had been diagnosed with an intractable speech disorder possibly resulting ultimately from a complete cleft of hard and soft palate. We illustrate how assessment, diagnosis and treatment of the intractable speech disorder are undertaken using this new generation of instrumental phonetic support. We also look forward to future developments in articulatory phonetics that will link EPG with ultrasound for research and clinical communities. Keywords: Electropalatography, ultrasound, speech disorders, perceptual analysis
An electropalatographic analysis of stutterers' speech
(1995-04) Wood, Sara
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.
An EPG study of lingual errors in adults with acquired aphasia: Implications for models of speech production.
(1999) Wood, Sara; Hardcastle, William J.
For a model of speech production to be comprehensive it must be able to account for both disordered and normal speech. The study of disordered speech often relies on perceptual judgements which are not always accurate enough representations of the speech process for such models. Perceptual judgements often encourage categorical decisions such as alveolar versus velar plosive which may not reflect articulatory reality. Evidence from EPG studies has identified non categorical errors, for example, so-called misdirected articulatory gestures (MAGs) which appear to be characteristic of aphasic speech. These involve distinctive lingual/palatal contacts which often remain undetected auditorily. For example, analysis of EPG data reveals cases where a perceived alveolar plosive may in reality be a double alveolar/velar articulation due to the presence of a velar MAG. This paper describes MAGs in ten aphasics and provides an explanation for them in relation to a modified model of interactive spreading activation.
An EPG therapy protocol for remediation and assessment of articulation disorders.
(ICSLP, 2002) Wrench, Alan A.; Gibbon, Fiona; McNeill, Alison M.; Wood, Sara; Hansen, John H.L.; Pellom, Bryan
This paper describes technical and methodological advances in the development of a procedure for measuring changes in accuracy and stability of linguapalatal (tongue-palate) contact patterns during a course of visual feedback therapy using electropalatography (EPG). The procedure is exemplified by a case in which therapy was aimed at resolving a pattern of velar fronting whereby phonetic targets /k, g,
Articulatory drift in the speech of children with articulation and phonological disorders.
(Published/Hosted by Ammons Scientific., 2002) Gibbon, Fiona; Wood, Sara
Changes in linguapalatal contact patterns during therapy for velar fronting in a 10-year-old with Down's syndrome.
(2004) Gibbon, Fiona; McNeill, Alison M.; Wood, Sara; Watson, Jocelynne
BACKGROUND: Articulation errors in the speech of people with Down's syndrome are frequent and often resistant to speech therapy. This preliminary study investigates the use of electropalatography (EPG) to diagnose and treat abnormal articulation patterns associated with velar fronting in a 10-year-old girl. AIMS: The study measured changes in the accuracy and stability of linguapalatal (tongue-palate) contact patterns during a 14-week course of visual feedback therapy using EPG. Therapy aimed to resolve a pattern of velar fronting whereby targets /k, g, eta/ had alveolar placement [t, d, n]. METHODS & PROCEDURES: The participant was a girl (P) with Down's syndrome aged 10;11 years. P had a moderate-severe speech disorder, which included velar fronting. Her speech was recorded with EPG on three occasions during a 14-week course of therapy: first, before therapy; second, midway through therapy; and third, after therapy. Three analyses were conducted on the EPG data. The first used an EPG classification scheme that identified accuracy of placement for /t/ and /k/ targets. The second was a centre of gravity measure that detected whether P produced a significant difference between /t/ and /k/ targets. The third was a variability index that quantified the stability of contact patterns. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The results of the EPG classification showed that before therapy, /t/ and /k/ targets had identical alveolar placement, reflecting the process of velar fronting. The results after therapy showed that 87% of /k/ targets had accurate velar placement. The centre of gravity measure showed no difference in contact patterns for /t/ and /k/ before therapy, but a statistically significant difference at the second and third recordings. The variability index showed stable contact patterns before therapy for /t/ and /k/ targets, but both became highly unstable midway through therapy, with a return to stability at the third recording. We embed a discussion of P's increased articulation instability during therapy in a recent theoretical framework--dynamic systems--that attempts to account for the emergence of new behavioural forms. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that EPG has potential as an effective diagnostic and therapy procedure for articulation errors in people with Down's syndrome. A major issue still to be addressed, however, is the extent to which others will benefit from this approach to intervention.
Clinical skills training for speech and language therapists: Using the evidence-base to treat speech sound disorders using electropalatography (EPG)
(CASL Research Centre, 2016-05) Wood, Sara; Gardiner, Julie; CSMEN
Speech sound disorders (SSD) affect a large proportion of children on Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) caseloads. The impact on the child can be far reaching, disturbing both social and educational development. Traditional therapy interventions are often lengthy and do not always resolve the SSDs. Electropalatography (EPG) is an instrumental visual-feedback technique used mainly in research clinics which has proven effective in the treatment of SSDs. This research aimed to train six SLTs in the use of EPG to treat children for whom traditional methods had failed. Workshops were offered to all interested SLTs which targeted: increasing knowledge of SSDs and possible barriers to success in therapy; increasing knowledge of EPG, specifically diagnostic benefits and therapy outcomes; helping SLTs to identify children on their caseload who may benefit from EPG. Following these 28 children were referred for consideration from which 3 children were chosen. Two of the three children responded to EPG therapy and successfully remediated their speech errors within 12 weeks and were subsequently discharged. For the third child who has multiple speech errors and requires ongoing surgical intervention in addition to therapy, EPG proved diagnostically very important as well as allowing progress previously not made in therapy. It became apparent that data security policies in NHS Lothian are incompatible with the Articulate Assistant software required to run EPG. Therefore whilst this method of intervention proved very successful in remediating the SSDs it cannot currently be adopted into the NHS without further considerations. Alternative visual-feedback techniques are being explored.
Electropalatography in the assessment and treatment of speech difficulties in children with Down syndrome
(2010-01) Wood, Sara
Many children with Down syndrome experience significant speech difficulties which in turn affects their speech intelligibility. This paper describes how electropalatography, a computer-based technique which uses visual feedback to alter speech production, is being used at Queen Margaret University, to assess and treat speech difficulties in a group of children and young people with Down syndrome. Encouraging results from a single case are reported.
EPG patterns in a patient with phonemic paraphasic errors
(2011-03) Wood, Sara; Hardcastle, William J.; Gibbon, Fiona
Auditorily-detected phonemic paraphasias such as substitutions are said to characterize aphasias such as Wernicke's and conduction aphasia. However previous research has shown that the articulatory details underlying such substitutions recorded by techniques such as Electropalatography (EPG) may reveal a level of complexity not detected by the auditory analysis alone. Articulatory anomalies such as so-called Misdirected Articulatory Gestures (MAGs) may accompany the production of the substitutions and are variously perceived by listeners. A perceptual study is carried out in which 16 adult listeners rate sounds identified on the basis of EPG analysis as potential substitutions, on a scale from alveolar to velar. Some of the target sounds looked like 'pure' substitutions from the EPG patterns and some exhibited MAGs. Listener judgements were not always entirely predictable on the basis of EPG patterns. The occurrence of the anomalous EPG patterns (and the auditory results) is explored further in terms of a modified spreading activation model and implications for clinical management are discussed.
EPG providing new insights into complex speech disorders.
(2004) Hardcastle, William J.; Wood, Sara
EPG/EMA studies on speech motor coordination.
(2001-06) Hardcastle, William J.; Ellis, Lucy; Wood, Sara; Gibbon, Fiona
Evaluating the Clinical Effectiveness of EPG in the Assessment and Diagnosis of Children with Intractable Speech Disorders.
(2003) Wood, Sara; Scobbie, James M.
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.
Instrumentation in the assessment and therapy of motor speech disorders: A survey of techniques and case studies with EPG
(Whurr, 2000) Wood, Sara; Hardcastle, William J.; Papathansiou, I.
Powerful tools for motor-based treatment approaches
(2015-10) Wood, Sara; Cleland, Joanne; Roxburgh, Zoe
Quantifying changes in ultrasound tongue-shape pre- and post-intervention in speakers with submucous cleft palate: An illustrative case study
(Taylor & Francis, 2021-09-08) Roxburgh, Zoe; Cleland, Joanne; Scobbie, James M.; Wood, Sara
Ultrasound Tongue Imaging is increasingly used during assessment and treatment of speech sound disorders. Recent literature has shown that ultrasound is also useful for the quantitative analysis of a wide range of speech errors. So far, the compensatory articulations of speakers with cleft palate have only been analysed qualitatively. This study provides a pilot quantitative ultrasound analysis, drawing on longitudinal intervention data from a child with submucous cleft palate. Two key ultrasound metrics were used: 1. articulatory t-tests were used to compare tongue-shapes for perceptually collapsed phonemes on a radial measurement grid and 2. the Mean Radial Difference was reported to quantify the extent to which the two tongue shapes differ, overall. This articulatory analysis supplemented impressionistic phonetic transcriptions and identified covert contrasts. Articulatory errors identified in this study using ultrasound were in line with errors identified in the speech of children with cleft palate in previous literature. While compensatory error patterns commonly found in speakers with cleft palate have been argued to facilitate functional phonological development, the nature of our findings suggest that the compensatory articulations uncovered are articulatory in nature.
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.
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.