Papers by Aravind Namasivayam
Lingual Behavior in Clarinet Articulation: A Multiple-Case Study Into Single and Double Tonguing
Music & Science
Articulating notes on the clarinet requires the control of many factors, one of which is the beha... more Articulating notes on the clarinet requires the control of many factors, one of which is the behavior of the tongue. It is hypothesized that one of the mechanisms to produce notes in the altissimo (highest) register involves the lowering of the tongue dorsum. The study sought to answer the question of whether different tonguing techniques interfered with the required lowering of the tongue dorsum in this register, making adequate note production difficult. Four professional clarinet players performed diatonic scales across the chalumeau, clarion, and altissimo registers using two techniques—single and double tonguing. Movements of the tongue dorsum and tongue blade were recorded with 3D Electromagnetic Articulography. The movement data revealed that, for all players, a low position of the tongue dorsum was indeed associated with a higher success rate of producing adequate notes in the altissimo register. Single tonguing was the most effective technique due to ability of the tongue d...
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience
Background: Motor speech treatment approaches have been applied in both adults with aphasia and a... more Background: Motor speech treatment approaches have been applied in both adults with aphasia and apraxia of speech and children with speech-sound disorders. Identifying links between motor speech intervention techniques and the modes of action (MoA) targeted would improve our understanding of how and why motor speech interventions achieve their effects, along with identifying its effective components. The current study focuses on identifying potential MoAs for a specific motor speech intervention technique. Objectives: We aim to demonstrate that somatosensory inputs can influence lexical processing, thus providing further evidence that linguistic information stored in the brain and accessed as part of speech perception processes encodes information related to speech production. Methods: In a cross-modal repetition priming paradigm, we examined whether the processing of external somatosensory priming cues was modulated by both word-level (lexical frequency, low-or high-frequency) and speech sound articulatory features. The study participants were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of twenty-three native English speakers who received somatosensory priming stimulation to their oro-facial structures (either to labial corners or under the jaw). The second group consisted of ten native English speakers who participated in a control study where somatosensory priming stimulation was applied to their right or left forehead as a control condition. The results showed significant somatosensory priming effects for the low-frequency words, where the congruent somatosensory condition yielded significantly shorter reaction times and numerically higher phoneme accuracy scores when compared to the incongruent somatosensory condition. Data from the control study did not reveal any systematic priming effects from forehead stimulation (nonspeech related site), other than a general (and expected) tendency for longer reaction times with low-frequency words. Conclusions: These findings provide further support for the notion that speech production information is represented in the mental lexicon and can be accessed through exogenous Speech-Language Pathologist driven somatosensory inputs related to place of articulation.
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2021
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to offer a contemporary viewpoint on accent services and ... more Purpose: The purpose of this article is to offer a contemporary viewpoint on accent services and contend that an equity-minded reframing of accent services in speech-language pathology is long overdue. Such reframing should address directly the use of nonpejorative terminology and the need for nurturing global linguistic diversity and practitioner diversity in speech-language pathology. The authors offer their perspective on affirmative and least-biased accent services, an in-depth scoping review of the literature on accent modification, and discuss using terms that communicate unconditional respect for speaker identity and an understanding of the impact of accent services on accented speakers. Conclusions: Given ongoing discussions about the urgent need to diversify the profession of speech-language pathology, critical attention is needed toward existing biases toward accented speakers and how such biases manifest in the way that accent services are provided as well as in how clini...
TORGO Database of Dysarthric Articulation
Telehealth intervention and childhood apraxia of speech: a scoping review
Speech, Language and Hearing, 2021
ABSTRACT Background: In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, many speech-language pathologists have... more ABSTRACT Background: In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, many speech-language pathologists have transitioned from in-person service delivery to online environments. As such, there is an urgent need to inform clinicians on the availability of efficacious and effective telehealth interventions for childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Objectives: This review was informed by the following clinical question: Is providing intervention remotely through telehealth as efficacious and effective as in-person therapy for treating CAS? Methods, eligibility criteria, and sources of evidence: Eight databases and seven search engines were searched for articles to identify intervention studies that have investigated the efficacy and/or effectiveness of treating CAS remotely. Search criteria was restricted to papers with children under 18 years of age, published in the English language between 1993 and 2020. Results: Two studies were found to meet our inclusion criteria. A phase I study employed a multiple baseline across participants design to investigate the efficacy of the Rapid Syllable Transition treatment via telehealth. The second study assessed the feasibility of adopting a novel system for the remote administration of the Nuffield Dyspraxia Program-Third Edition. Based on the Oxford hierarchy Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, both studies are level IV (case-series/case-control), and therefore deemed low level evidence. Results showed limited but promising outcomes when CAS therapy is conducted remotely. Conclusion: There is limited, low-level evidence indicating positive outcomes for the remote treatment of CAS via telehealth. The scarcity of data available warrants a need for large-scale randomized control trials and controlled clinical trials. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
This study explores how identical final CV syllables in C1VC3V C2VC3V word pairs affect speech er... more This study explores how identical final CV syllables in C1VC3V C2VC3V word pairs affect speech error patterns. Recent kinematic studies have shown that speakers frequently added non-intended movements to intended articulatory movements during the first consonants of C1VC3 C2VC3 syllables or reduce the range of the intended movements [1, 2, 3]. This effect was especially strong in syllables that contained identical final consonants, such as in switching from “cop top” to “top cop” [2]. It was hypothesized for the current study that C1VC3V C2VC3V word pairs, in which the second and fourth syllable were identical, would show similar intrusion and reduction patterns. Articulatory movements of the tongue tip, dorsum and lower lip were recorded with the 3D ElectroMagnetic Articulograph (AG501). Stimuli consisted of pairs of open and pairs of closed syllables. The findings revealed that CVCV CVCV word pairs resulted in significant more intrusions than CVC CVC word pairs.
International Journal of Orofacial Myology, 2002
This paper describes a study that for the first time addresses the physiological effects of an 8-... more This paper describes a study that for the first time addresses the physiological effects of an 8-week mechanically aided facial exercise program, using the Facial-Flex device (Facial Concepts, Inc., Blue Bell, PA) with four healthy individuals with no motor, speech, language, or hearing problems. For a variety of non-speech and speech tasks, upper and lower lip muscle activity (EMG) and upper and lower lip movements were recorded at two baseline sessions (separated by 1 week) and immediately after an 8-week training period. The results indicate that after the training period, all four subjects showed an increase in the number of task repetitions and the duration of isometric contraction using the Facial-Flex device with a fixed resistance (Linebaugh tests). However, with respect to physiological changes as related to the exercise program, the results were mixed. Only one subject showed the expected significant increase in normalized EMG activity. This response was mirrored in a sign...
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2021
PurposeThe aim of the study was to develop and validate a probe word list and scoring system to a... more PurposeThe aim of the study was to develop and validate a probe word list and scoring system to assess speech motor skills in preschool and school-age children with motor speech disorders.MethodThis article describes the development of a probe word list and scoring system using a modified word complexity measure and principles based on the hierarchical development of speech motor control known as the Motor Speech Hierarchy (MSH). The probe word list development accounted for factors related to word (i.e., motoric) complexity, linguistic variables, and content familiarity. The probe word list and scoring system was administered to 48 preschool and school-age children with moderate-to-severe speech motor delay at clinical centers in Ontario, Canada, and then evaluated for reliability and validity.ResultsOne-way analyses of variance revealed that the motor complexity of the probe words increased significantly for each MSH stage, while no significant differences in the linguistic comple...
Pediatric Research, 2020
BackgroundCurrently, there is limited information on the intervention efficacy for children with ... more BackgroundCurrently, there is limited information on the intervention efficacy for children with speech motor delay (SMD). This randomized control trial (RCT) study examined the effectiveness of Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets (PROMPT) intervention to improve the outcomes in children with SMD. We hypothesized that children with SMD receiving PROMPT intervention would improve more in the measured outcomes than those waitlisted and receiving home training.MethodsUsing a two-arm, parallel group, RCT, 49 children with SMD were allocated to either an intervention group (N = 24) that received 45 min of PROMPT intervention two times a week for 10 weeks or were waitlisted for the same duration and received only home training instructions (N = 25). Outcome measures for speech motor control, articulation, speech intelligibility (word and sentence levels), and functional communication were assessed at baseline and at a 10-week follow-up.ResultsPROMPT intervention was a...
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2019
BackgroundWith respect to the clinical criteria for diagnosingchildhood apraxia of speech(commonl... more BackgroundWith respect to the clinical criteria for diagnosingchildhood apraxia of speech(commonly defined as a disorder of speech motor planning and/or programming), research has made important progress in recent years. Three segmental and suprasegmental speech characteristics—error inconsistency, lengthened and disrupted coarticulation, and inappropriate prosody—have gained wide acceptance in the literature for purposes of participant selection. However, little research has sought to empirically test the diagnostic validity of these features. One major obstacle to such empirical study is the fact that none of these features is stated in operationalized terms.PurposeThis tutorial provides a structured overview of perceptual, acoustic, and articulatory measurement procedures that have been used or could be used to operationalize and assess these 3 core characteristics. Methodological details are reviewed for each procedure, along with a short overview of research results reported in...
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2019
International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 2019
BackgroundTreatment outcome data for children with severe speech sound disorders with motor speec... more BackgroundTreatment outcome data for children with severe speech sound disorders with motor speech involvement (SSD‐MSI) are derived from Phase I clinical research studies. These studies have demonstrated positive improvements in speech production. Currently there is no research examining the optimal treatment dose frequency for this population. The results of this study, which is the first of its kind, will inform the delivery of effective services for this population.AimsTo investigate optimal treatment dose frequency for the Motor Speech Treatment Protocol (MSTP) for children with SSD‐MSI.Methods & ProceduresA total of 48 children (aged 43–47 months) with SSD‐MSI participated in the study. Participants received 45‐min MSTP intervention sessions either once per week (lower dose frequency) or twice per week (higher dose frequency) for a 10‐week period. Blinded outcome assessments were carried out at pre‐ and post‐intervention.Outcomes & ResultsTreatment‐related change was assessed ...
Journal of Healthcare Engineering, 2018
Tactile-kinesthetic-proprioceptive (TKP) input used to facilitate speech motor control is conside... more Tactile-kinesthetic-proprioceptive (TKP) input used to facilitate speech motor control is considered an active ingredient within speech motor interventions. Objective metrics identifying skill level differences across speech-language pathologists (S-LP) providing TKP cues are crucial for monitoring treatment delivery fidelity. The study examined three kinematic measures indicating accuracy and consistency of TKP inputs by 3 S-LPs with varying experience levels (S-LP 1: novice; S-LP 2 and S-LP 3: advanced). Confidence interval measures were used to compare the accuracy of jaw movement amplitudes of the vowel /a/ made by a model participant versus S-LPs giving the TKP input. Generalised Orthogonal Procrustes Analysis (GPA) and cyclic Spatial Temporal Index (cSTI) were used to determine movement consistency. Results revealed passive jaw excursions induced by S-LP 2 and 3 to be not statistically significant from the model participant’s active jaw movements. cSTI values decreased with ad...
Interspeech 2017, 2017
Facial (e.g., lips and jaw) movements can provide important information for the assessment, diagn... more Facial (e.g., lips and jaw) movements can provide important information for the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of motor speech disorders. However, due to the high costs of the instrumentation used to record speech movements, such information is typically limited to research studies. With the recent development of depth sensors and efficient algorithms for facial tracking, clinical applications of this technology may be possible. Although lip tracking methods have been validated in the past, jaw tracking remains a challenge. In this study, we assessed the accuracy of tracking jaw movements with a video-based system composed of a face tracker and a depth sensor, specifically developed for short range applications (Intel® RealSense™ SR300). The assessment was performed on healthy subjects during speech and nonspeech tasks. Preliminary results showed that jaw movements can be tracked with reasonable accuracy (RMSE≈2mm), with better performance for slow movements. Further tests are needed in order to improve the performance of these systems and develop accurate methodologies that can reveal subtle changes in jaw movements for the assessment and treatment of motor speech disorders.
Disability and Rehabilitation, 2016
Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) helps parents improve the quality of interaction with chi... more Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) helps parents improve the quality of interaction with children who have behavior problems. The therapy trains parents to use effective dialogue acts when interacting with their children. Besides weekly coaching by therapists, the therapy relies on deliberate practice of skills by parents in their homes. We developed SpecialTime, a system that provides parents engaged in PCIT with automatic, real-time feedback on their dialogue act use. To do this, we first created a dataset of 6,022 parent dialogue acts, annotated by experts with dialogue act labels that therapists use to code parent speech. We then developed an algorithm that classifies the dialogue acts into 8 classes with an overall accuracy of 78%. To test the system in an actual clinical setting, we conducted a one month pilot study with four parents currently in therapy. The results suggest that automatic feedback on spoken dialogue acts is possible in PCIT, and that parents find the automatic feedback useful.
Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 2016
Purpose Random item generation (RIG) involves central executive functioning. Measuring aspects of... more Purpose Random item generation (RIG) involves central executive functioning. Measuring aspects of random sequences can therefore provide a simple method to complement other tools for cognitive assessment. We examine the extent to which RIG relates to specific measures of cognitive function, and whether those measures can be estimated using RIG only. Method Twelve healthy older adults (age: M = 70.3 years, SD = 4.9; 8 women and 4 men) and 20 healthy young adults (age: M = 24 years, SD = 4.0; 12 women and 8 men) participated in this pilot study. Each completed a RIG task, along with the color Stroop test, the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007). Several statistical features extracted from RIG sequences, including recurrence quantification, were found to be related to the other measures through correlation, regression, and a neural-network model. Results The authors found signific...
Journal of Fluency Disorders, 2016
Purpose: Fluency assessment in people who stutter (PWS) includes reading aloud passages. There is... more Purpose: Fluency assessment in people who stutter (PWS) includes reading aloud passages. There is little information on properties of these passages that may affect reading performance: emotional valance, arousal, word familiarity and frequency and passage-readability. Our first goal was to present an extensive examination of these factors in three commonly used ("traditional") passages. The second goal was to compare a traditional passage to a new passage, designed to minimize the impact of these properties. Methods: Content words were rated (129 participants) on arousal, valence and familiarity. Other linguistic features were analyzed based on available datasets. This information was used to assess traditional passages, and to construct a new well-balanced passage, made of neutral, low-arousal and highly-familiar words. Readability for all passages was tested using formula-based and CLOZE tests (31 participants). Finally, 26 PWS were evaluated on fluency comparing the commonly used "Rainbow" passage with the novel one. Results: The three traditional passages contain a share of emotionally valenced (22-34%), high arousal (15-18%), lower familiarity (6-8%) and polysyllabic (5-9%) content words. Readability was highest for the novel passage (on formula-based scales). Average disfluencies percent for the Rainbow and our novel passage were not significantly different. Yet half of the individuals in this sample showed a large difference between the two passages. We provide detailed information on potential sources of variance using the traditional passages. Knowledge about these characteristics can inform clinical practice (and research). We suggest a combined procedure, using more than one passage to assess stuttering in individual cases.
Acoustics Week in Canada 2014, Aug 18, 2014
Canadian Acoustics, Sep 1, 2011
International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 2015
Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) dominates quantitative data analysis, but its use is ... more Null hypothesis significance testing (NHST) dominates quantitative data analysis, but its use is controversial and has been heavily criticized. The American Psychological Association has advocated the reporting of effect sizes (ES), confidence intervals (CIs), and statistical power analysis to complement NHST results to provide a more comprehensive understanding of research findings. The aim of this paper is to carry out a sample survey of statistical reporting practices in two journals with the highest h5-index scores in the areas of developmental disability and rehabilitation. Using a checklist that includes critical recommendations by American Psychological Association, we examined 100 randomly selected articles out of 456 articles reporting inferential statistics in the year 2013 in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (JADD) and Research in Developmental Disabilities (RDD). The results showed that for both journals, ES were reported only half the time (JADD 59.3%; RDD 55.87%). These findings are similar to psychology journals, but are in stark contrast to ES reporting in educational journals (73%). Furthermore, a priori power and sample size determination (JADD 10%; RDD 6%), along with reporting and interpreting precision measures (CI: JADD 13.33%; RDD 16.67%), were the least reported metrics in these journals, but not dissimilar to journals in other disciplines. To advance the science in developmental disability and rehabilitation and to bridge the research-to-practice divide, reforms in statistical reporting, such as providing supplemental measures to NHST, are clearly needed.
Uploads
Papers by Aravind Namasivayam