Paul Rathouz

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Differential Diagnosis of Functional Speech Deficits in Children with Cerebral Palsy

The estimated 2.5 per 1000 children who have cerebral palsy (CP) are at significant risk for communication disorders; the presence of the speech motor disorder dysarthria occurs in about 50% of the population and almost always has detrimental effects on speech intelligibility. This research will improve early identification and treatment of functional speech motor deficits, such as reduced intelligibility, in children with CP by developing empirically based, developmentally sensitive standards to differentiate between children with typical and atypical speech motor abilities between the ages of 3-7 years on measures that are valued functional outcomes in dysarthria but that have not been comprehensively quantified in typical children through the following specific aims: 1.) to develop growth curves and quantify the range of age-based typical performance on functional speech measures relevant to pediatric dysarthria (speech intelligibility, speech rate, and intelligible words per minute); and 2.) to develop and validate age-specific measures that differentiate between atypical and typical functional speech motor control in children with CP. Using a cross sectional design to examine 320 age-stratified existing speech samples from children with CP, and new data on 400 age-stratified typically developing children, results will advance a model of speech development that has specific application to identification and treatment of functional speech motor deficits in children with CP and will have broad application to other populations of children with speech disorders (e.g. deaf speech, and cleft palate speech), laying the foundation for creation of other population-specific tools.