Clinical Assessment of Oropharyngeal Motor Development in Young Children

Abstract

A clinical protocol was developed for the purpose of assessing the oral and speech motor abilities of children. An 86-item test was administered to 90 normally developing children aged 2:6-6:11. Evaluations of the structural integrity of the vocal tract did not show developmental change, although evaluations of oral and speech motor functioning changed significantly with age. The functional portion of the protocol was most sensitive to developmental change up to age 3:6, with an asymptote in performance thereafter. Clinical application of the protocol is discussed.

Family pedigrees of children with suspected childhood apraxia of speech

“…below the mean for age on the Oral Speech Motor Control Protocol (Robbins & Klee, 1987) and difficulty with sequencing sounds and syllables. Sequencing errors were noted for each child on the repetition of multisyllabic real and nonsense words or in the imitation of syllable sequences, such as pataka on the Oral Speech Motor Control Protocol.…”

“…or greater below the mean on the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation-Sounds in Words Subtest (GFTA; Goldman & Fristoe, 1986) prior to enrollment in speech-language therapy, and (b) commission of at least three phonological error types as identified by the KhanLewis Phonological Analysis (Khan & Lewis, 1986). Additionally, the Oral and Speech Motor Control Protocol (Robbins & Klee, 1987) confirmed a normal peripheral speech mechanism.…”

“…The Oral and Speech Motor Control Protocol (Robbins & Klee, 1987) assessed oral structures and motor functions. The Oral and Speech Motor Protocol was standardized on 90 children without speech or language impairments ages 2:6-6:11.…”

Dimensions of early speech sound disorders: A factor analytic study

“…All participants were screened to insure that they met the following criteria: (1) moderate to severe expressive speech sound impairment as defined by a score at or below the 10th percentile on the Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation Sounds in Words subtest (Goldman & Fristoe, 1986), commission of at least three phonological processing error types as identified by the Khan-Lewis Phonological Analysis (KLPA; Khan & Lewis, 1986), and a severity of involvement score of <90% of consonants correct (PCC) based on a conversational speech sample (Shriberg et al, 1997); (2) normal hearing acuity as defined by passing a pure tone audiometric screening test at 25 dBHL ISO for 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz bilaterally and fewer than six reported episodes of otitis media prior to age 3 years as reported by the parent; (3) normal peripheral speech mechanism as documented on the Oral and Speech Motor Control Protocol (Robbins & Klee, 1987); (4) absence of a history of neurological disorders or developmental delays other than speech and language as reported by the parent; (5) normal intelligence defined as a Performance IQ of 80 or above on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Third Edition (WISC-III; Wechsler, 1991) or the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-Revised (WPPSI-R; Wechsler, 1989). Table 1 summarizes the demographic and intelligence characteristics of the sample at preschool age and the subsample retested at school age.…”

“…The Oral and Speech Motor Control Protocol (Robbins & Klee, 1987) assessed oral structures and motor functions. Based on observations of the child's oral structures at rest and during repetition of syllables, words, and phrases, this protocol yields a Total Function score (TFS) and a Total Structure score (TSS).…”