Developmental dysarthria in a young adult with cerebral palsy: A speech subsystems analysis

The speech of children with cerebral palsy (CP) and dysarthria is associated with limited breath control, voice quality changes and imprecise articulation. These problems can reduce speech intelligibility, which can act as a barrier to successful interactions. Whilst the impact of the speech problems is well recognised, research on the nature of the speech impairment is relatively limited. This study aims to provide a detailed description of the speech production abilities of a 16-year old boy with CP using a speech subsystems approach. It will examine which subsystems might be affected that could impact upon intelligibility in this speaker. To achieve this, various speech samples were analysed regarding a range of acoustic and linguistic parameters and subsequently compared to the performances of his typically developing twin brother. Results showed that changes in respiration, phonation and articulation may contribute to the intelligibility issues experienced by the speaker with CP.