Our goal is to understand how speech movements of young children with speech delays or disorders differ from kids with typical speech development, in order to improve assessment and treatment of childhood speech disorders. If eligible, your child will be asked to say some words and sentences while we track the movement to their mouth using reflective markers.   You will receive a $20 Amazon Gift Card, and your child will be able to pick out a small prize for participating. Free parking as well! Fill out the form on the right to schedule a time to visit our Northeastern Lab to participate!

Over half of children with cerebral palsy (CP) have reduced speech intelligibility and difficulty communicating due to dysarthria, a speech disorder that affects control of the muscles used for talking. One way to increase speech intelligibility for speakers with dysarthria is through using speech modification strategies, for example, by speaking with a loud voice, or at a slow rate. However, there is limited research on why and how these strategies can lead to improved intelligibility and communication in children and adolescents with dysarthria secondary to CP.  

Our research overall seeks to address this gap by 1) comparing the effectiveness of three speech modification strategies for children and adolescents with CP, and 2) identifying acoustic and kinematic markers that predict which strategies will be optimal for individual children and adolescents with CP.  

 

 

 

You will receive a $20 Amazon Gift Card, and your child will be able to pick out a small prize for participating. Free parking as well! Fill out the form on the left to schedule a time to visit our Northeastern Lab to participate!