Using ultrasound images of the tongue to teach children with speech disorders new speech sounds.

What is it about?

Children with speech disorders have difficulty making particular speech sounds, making them difficult to understand. Some of these children go on to have long term problems which affect their social and academic development. In this study we used ultrasound images of the tongue, shown in real time, to teach children how to make speech sounds they had previously had difficulty with. Twenty children enrolled on the study and 15 completed a therapy programme of 10 to 12 sessions. Ten of the children were able to learn a new speech sound in the first or second session of intervention, however overall progress was more variable. Some children easily integrated their new speech sounds into their everyday speech, while others were unable to do so. In conclusion, ultrasound might be a useful tool for some children with speech disorders but more research is needed to determine which specific children it is likely to be useful for and how many sessions of intervention are needed.

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Why is it important?

This study showed that ultrasound visual biofeedback can be used to treat a wide variety of speech disorders, including severe speech disorders.

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