1. Speech Impairment in Boys With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
- Author
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Terband H, Spruit M, and Maassen B
- Subjects
- Age Factors, Audiometry, Speech, Case-Control Studies, Child, Child Behavior, Child Development, Child, Preschool, Female, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders diagnosis, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders psychology, Humans, Male, Sex Factors, Speech Disorders diagnosis, Speech Disorders psychology, Speech Perception, Speech Production Measurement, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders physiopathology, Motor Activity, Speech Acoustics, Speech Disorders physiopathology, Speech Intelligibility, Voice Quality
- Abstract
Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a highly prevalent spectrum of patterns of congenital defects resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol. Approximately 90% of the cases involve speech impairment. Yet, to date, no detailed symptom profiles nor dedicated treatment plans are available for this population., Purpose: This study set out to chart the speech and speech motor characteristics in boys with FASD to profile the concomitant speech impairment and identify possible underlying mechanisms., Method: Ten boys with FASD (4.5-10.3 years old) and 26 typically developing children (4.1-8.7 years old; 14 boys, 12 girls) participated in the study. Speech production and perception, and oral motor data were collected by standardized tests., Results: The boys with FASD showed reduced scores on all tasks as well as a deviant pattern of correlations between production and perception tasks and intelligibility compared with the typically developing children. Speech motor profiles showed specific problems with nonword repetition and tongue control., Conclusions: Findings indicate that the speech impairment in boys with FASD results from a combination of deficits in multiple subsystems and should be approached as a disorder rather than a developmental delay. The results suggest that reduced speech motor planning/programming, auditory discrimination, and oral motor abilities should be considered in long-term, individually tailored treatment.
- Published
- 2018
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