The effect of speaking rate training program on speech intelligibility in adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy

• Main Authors: Yang Ching-Yeng, 楊青燕
• Other Authors: 劉惠美
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/40208621834031222897

碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 聽力學與語言治療研究所 === 96 === The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of the speaking rate training program on improving speech intelligibility for adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy. 16 adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy served as experimental group which received the speaking rate training program for six times; another 10 adolescents with spastic cerebral palsy served as the control group which participated the interactive language program respectively. Before and after the intervention of speech training programs, individual subjects’ speech intelligibility, vowel working space and speaking rate were measured to evaluate the training effects. The results showed that the speaking rate training program was effective on improving speech intelligibility, expanding vowel working space areas, and decreasing speaking rate (i.e., fewer words per minute and lengthened speech duration). After two weeks of tracking, the effects of speaking rate training program on speech intelligibility and vowel working space were maintained. Furthermore, individual subjects’ vowel working space was found to positively correlate with speech intelligibility, and could account for 67.3% of the variance in speech intelligibility after the intervention. These results suggest that speakers with spastic cerebral palsy can benefit from the the speaking rate intervention program and the vowel working space area could be an important component of global estimates of speech intelligibility. The improvement of vowel working after the training could be an indicative measure of the trainging effects of speech intelligibility.