ABSTRACT
Twenty-four dysarthric speakers with etiologies of brain injury or stroke were placed into one of two groups based on aerodynamic measures of velopharyngeal status. Group I contained 13 individuals who were velopharyngeally incompetent in that nasal air flow was always noted during the stop phase of voiceless plosive sounds. Group II contained 11 individuals who at times achieved complete velopharyngeal closure. Certain measures of perceived articulatory adequacy were found to distinguish between the two groups. Specifically, speakers who were velopharyngeally incompetent produced an articulatory error pattern characterized by better performance for the consonant subcategory nasals-glides than for pressure consonants. Speakers who at times were achieving velopharyngeal closure did not exhibit a marked difference between these two consonant subcategories. Clinical use of measurement of articulatory adequacy as a gross indicator of velopharyngeal competence is suggested and limitations are discussed.
Subject(s)
Dysarthria/physiopathology , Palate, Soft/physiopathology , Pharynx/physiopathology , Speech Disorders/physiopathology , Velopharyngeal Insufficiency/physiopathology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Humans , Middle Aged , Nose , Pulmonary Ventilation , Speech Articulation TestsABSTRACT
The number of communication options available to intubated patients is rapidly increasing. Selection of an appropriate augmentative communication approach depends on the decision-making practices of a team of experts. A series of oral and nonoral augmentative communication options is reviewed here, with particular emphasis on patients who are candidates for each approach.
