Speech is a complex behaviour which icludes cooperation of brain, nerves and speech production organs. The oral cavity and tongue have a crucial role in forming speech sounds. The tongue is divided into three parts: apex, body and root. Various technologies are used for observation of the tongue during speech production. One of those technologies is the ultrasound, which is very useful for observation and research of tongue-root movements. During observation of speech or other tongue movements, an ultrasound probe is placed on the speaker's neck, under the chin and above the larynx. Sound waves traveling through the tongue reflect back towards the probe when they reach the border between the tongue and the air in the oral cavity. This creates a two-dimensional image of the tongue's surface, which is shown on the screen in the form of a video clip. Ultrasound is used in various studies as a visualization technique for observing the shape and movements of the tongue during speech. In speech therapy, it is used to diagnose and correct speech disorders, because it provides clients with visual feedback information when learning proper pronounciation of sounds. It is used in children with childhood apraxia of speech. Childhood apraxia of speech is a speech disorder in which a child has difficulty in planning and/or programming speech movement sequences.
The objective of the master's thesis was to use ultrasound and verify its usefulness for improving production of the speech sounds /k/ and /g/ in two- and three-syllable words in speech and language therapy with a boy with suspected childhood apraxia of speech. The indirect objective of the research is to encourage the use of ultrasound in speech and language therapy in Slovenia. The empirical part presents the use of ultrasound in speech and language therapy with a boy with suspected childhood apraxia of speech, to improve production of speech sounds /k/ and /g/. It presents the results of the photo naming test. The test includes 20 two-syllable and 20 three-syllable words containing speech sounds /k/ and /g/. At the same time, the aspect of the intelligibility of the child's speech to ten untrained listeners is described. After the ultrasound treatment, the boy produced the isolated sounds /k/ and /g/ more precisely, and his production of sounds /k/ and /g/ in two-syllable words improved. Progress was not noticeable or was minimal in the production of sounds /k/ and /g/ in three-syllable words and in consonant clusters. The intelligibility of speech, which was assessed by untrained listeners, shows minimal improvement in intelligibility.
Following the experience of using ultrasound in speech therapy, I consider ultrasound a valuable tool in speech sound disorder treatment, since it shows tongue movements which cannot be seen in traditional speech therapy in front of a mirror. It helps the speech therapist to diagnose child's speech production and it helps the child to get the notion of where his tongue is and where he should move it. I hope that in the future the ultrasound will become more commonly used in speech therapy in treatment of speech sound disorders.
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