Classification of pediatric dysarthria in cerebral palsy

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder that results in reduced speech intelligibility and impacts functional participation for many children with cerebral palsy (CP) and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The speech characteristics associated with pediatric dysarthria vary widely across individuals, and interact with developmental factors in vocal tract structure, phonological knowledge, and speech motor control. Together, these factors result in diverse clinical speech presentations. Currently, no system exists for identifyin subtypes of pediatric dysarthria in a way that is designed for children, based on quantitative data of children's speech, and can be used to direct treatment. The proposed study aims to provide a foundation for developing a novel pediatric dysarthria classification system by identifying quantitatively-derived subgroups of children with different constellations of speech features, and investigating the effect of subgroups' speech patterns on intelligibility. In additio, the study will investigate characteristics of connected speech that indicate the presence of dysarthria in young children. Specific Aim 1 will use acoustic and perceptual measurements of connected speech samples to differentiate 5-year-old children with dysarthria from children with age-appropriate speech errors, and identify speech measures that best predict the presence of dysarthria. We hypothesize that measures of connected speech reflecting motor control of speech subsystems (i.e., respiration, phonation, resonance, and articulation) will both differentiate children with dysarthria from typically-developing children, and can be used to predict the presence of dysarthria in young children. Specific Aim 2 will use hierarchical cluster analysis to identify clusters of children with dysarthria who have distinct constellations of speec features. We hypothesize that identified clusters will reflect subgroups of children with different patterns of speech subsystem control, and that different constellations of speech features will have differential effects on intelligibility. This study has important implications for improving or theoretical understanding of pediatric dysarthria, and will potentially advance clinical practice b facilitating earlier diagnosis of dysarthria and directing development of intervention strategies that target predominant contributors to intelligibility deficits in subgroups of children.