Babbling, vegetative function, and language development after cricotracheal resection in aphonic children

Abstract

The initial delay in speech acquisition observed following decannulation, along with the presence of a postsurgical canonical stage in all study subjects, supports the hypothesis that babbling is necessary for speech and language development. Furthermore, the presence of babbling is universally evident regardless of the age at which speech develops. Finally, there is no demonstrable correlation between preoperative sign language and rate of speech development.

Language Development of Individuals Who Require Aided Communication: Reflections on State of the Science and Future Research Directions

“…For example, there is some evidence that children who undergo a tracheostomy shortly after birth go on to develop speech and language skills, despite lack of access to speech production (Adamson & Dunbar, 1991;Bohm, Nelson, Driver, & Green, 2010). Language acquisition in this view is something that happens to the child, rather than something a child does (Hockema & Smith, 2009).…”

Human and porcine vocalizations after creation of a human larynx

“…Evolution of spoken language requires transition from involuntary (or vegetative) emotional sound production to conscious sound production; and then from conscious sound production to conscious complex sound production. Bohm et al (2010) show that after reconstruction, normal human verbal speech development transitions through a series of similar stages:…”