Acoustic Predictors of Pediatric Dysarthria in Cerebral Palsy

Purpose

The objectives of this study were to identify acoustic characteristics of connected speech that differentiate children with dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy (CP) from typically developing children and to identify acoustic measures that best detect dysarthria in children with CP.

Method

Twenty 5-year-old children with dysarthria secondary to CP were compared to 20 age- and sex-matched typically developing children on 5 acoustic measures of connected speech. A logistic regression approach was used to derive an acoustic model that best predicted dysarthria status.

Results

Results indicated that children with dysarthria secondary to CP differed from typically developing children on measures of multiple segmental and suprasegmental speech characteristics. An acoustic model containing articulation rate and the F2 range of diphthongs differentiated children with dysarthria from typically developing children with 87.5% accuracy.

Conclusion

This study serves as a first step toward developing an acoustic model that can be used to improve early identification of dysarthria in children with CP.

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