Characterizing intonation in children with cerebral palsy and dysarthria

Kuschmann, Anja and Pennington, Lindsay and Miller, Nick and Lowit, Anja (2014) Characterizing intonation in children with cerebral palsy and dysarthria. In: 17th Biennial Conference on Motor Speech, 2014-02-26 - 2014-03-02, Florida.

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Abstract

Developmental dysarthria in children with cerebral palsy (CP) is frequently associated with segmental and suprasegmental problems. However, whilst articulatory difficulties are relatively well-researched, little is known about the intonational abilities in children with CP and dysarthria. This study addresses this research gap, aiming to describe the intonational patterns in children with CP, and chart the principles of intonation realisation underlying this speech disorder. Intonational analyses were based on spontaneous speech samples of 16 children with dysarthria and CP, which were recorded as part of a previously conducted therapy study. Speech data from two time points (recorded prior to and after therapy) were analyzed and subsequently compared with regard to inventory, distribution and realization of intonation patterns. Annotation and analysis were carried out within the autosegmental-metrical (AM) framework of intonational analysis. Preliminary results show that post-therapy a wider range of intonation patterns was observed in the speech samples, along with a reduction in mean phrase length. The findings suggest that speech and language therapy has an effect on how children with CP and dysarthria realize intonation patterns.

ORCID iDs

Kuschmann, Anja ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5396-9008, Pennington, Lindsay, Miller, Nick and Lowit, Anja ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0842-584X;