Articulation Rate and Vowel Space Characteristics of Young Males with Fragile X Syndrome: Preliminary Acoustic Findings

Autor/inn/en	Zajac, David J.; Roberts, Joanne E.; Hennon, Elizabeth A.; Harris, Adrianne A.; Barnes, Elizabeth F.; Misenheimer, Jan
Titel	Articulation Rate and Vowel Space Characteristics of Young Males with Fragile X Syndrome: Preliminary Acoustic Findings
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49 (2006) 5, S. 1147-1155 PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
Schlagwörter	Forschungsbericht; Articulation (Speech); Age; Vowels; Males; Acoustics; Speech Communication + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Alter; Lebensalter; Male; Männliches Geschlecht; Akustik
Abstract	Purpose: Increased speaking rate is a commonly reported perceptual characteristic among males with fragile X syndrome (FXS). The objective of this preliminary study was to determine articulation rate--one component of perceived speaking rate--and vowel space characteristics of young males with FXS. Method: Young males with FXS (n = 38), developmental age (DA)-matched males (n = 21), and chronological age (CA)-matched males (n = 16) were audiotaped while engaged in spontaneous conversation and a picture-naming task. Articulation rate in syllables per second during intelligible utterances and vowel space area/dispersion measures were acoustically determined for each speaker. Results: Males with FXS did not articulate significantly faster than CA-matched males. Area and dispersion of the acoustic vowel space also were similar between the 2 groups. Males with FXS, however, used significantly shorter utterances and had a tendency to pause less often than CA-matched males. In addition, males with FXS exhibited greater intraspeaker variability of formants associated with the vowel /a/. Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that articulation rate may not be a primary factor contributing to perceived speaking rate of males with FXS. Limitations of the study relative to speech production tasks and utterance intelligibility are discussed. (Author).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://www.asha.org/about/publications/journal-abstracts/jslhr/
Begutachtung	Peer reviewed
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10