Work

Naïve listener judgements of speech sound change during speech intervention for children with cleft palate ± lip using a visual analogue scale, compared to expert ratings

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Monitoring the speech therapy progress of children with cleft palate ± lip (CP±L) is important for clinical decision-making. Existing approaches, such as Percentage target Consonants Correct (PCC) or narrow phonetic transcription, each present challenges in implementation. Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) have been successfully used by naïve listeners to evaluate disordered speech, but not speech of children with CP±L, which is the purpose of the present study. 120 naïve listeners were presented with words produced by two children with CP±L during consecutive therapy sessions. VAS evaluations of the target consonants in word-initial position were compared to the PCC ratings and narrow phonetic transcriptions of a cleft specialist Speech and Language Therapist. Results suggest that VAS captured gradient changes, which were not captured by PCC, and not as easy to interpret from the narrow phonetic transcriptions.

Source: Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics

DOI: 10.1080/02699206.2025.2571661

Authors: Maria Cairney, Victor Shiramizu, Joanne Cleland

Institution: University of Strathclyde

Language: English

Topic: Cleft Lip and Palate Research

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Northwestern University, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate, Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorate