Preliminary Case Studies Investigating the Use of Electropalatography (EPG) Manufactured by CompleteSpeech® as a Biofeedback Toolin Intervention

Abstract

Purpose: This preliminary investigation examined the effectiveness of using electropalatography, manufactured by Complete Speech®, as a tool with three children diagnosed with articulation disorders. The participants produced the following phonemes in error: /ʃ/, /s/, /r/, r-colored vowels [ɚ,ɝ], and r-colored diphthongs [ɛr, ɪr, ɔr, ɑr] in different positions of words. Method: Speech and language skills were assessed prior to the intervention. A conversational speech sample was elicited and analyzed pre-and postintervention. The intervention consisted of a 45-minute session once a week over a 10-week period. Perceptual data were recorded during each session. Three months post intervention two of the three participant's speech was analyzed to determine possible generalizationof therapy targets. No home practice program was provided to the participants. Results: The results revealed that each of the participants improved in their lingua-palatal contacts for the phoneme(s) targeted. Conclusion: Electropalatography manufactured by Complete Speech® was a useful intervention tool to improve the speech skills of three children diagnosed with articulation disorders. Positive improvements in articulation as indicated in this study show promise for use ofthis software to improve patient awareness of articulatory errors and ability to use visual feedback to effectively produce target sounds and generalize their correct speech productions.

Efficacy of Electropalatography for Treating Misarticulation of /r/

“…In a recent case series, Fabus et al (2015) documented treatment effects of EPG for /r/ errors for three participants aged 9-11 years, who were seen for one 45-min session per week for a duration of 10 weeks. Two children presented with only rhotic errors, whereas one child demonstrated rhotic and fricative errors.…”

“…These include visual-acoustic biofeedback, in which the client views a computer-generated acoustic representation (e.g., real-time spectrogram) of his or her speech; ultrasound biofeedback, in which an ultrasound probe held beneath the chin generates an image of the client's tongue during speech; and electropalatographic (EPG) biofeedback, which uses a pseudopalate to register and display areas of contact between the client's tongue and palate. For each of these methods, small-scale studies have supported the hypothesis that biofeedback can facilitate acquisition of speech targets that have not responded to previous forms of intervention , (e.g., visual-acoustic: McAllister Byun & Hitchcock, 2012;Shuster, Ruscello, & Smith, 1992;Shuster et al, 1995;ultrasound: Adler-Bock et al, 2007;McAllister Byun et al, 2014;Preston et al, 2013;EPG: Bernhardt, Gick, Bacsfalvi, & Ashdown, 2003;Dagenais, Critz-Crosby, & Adams, 1994;Fabus et al, 2015;Gibbon & Hardcastle, 1987;McAuliffe & Cornwell, 2008;Schmidt, 2007). The present study focuses on EPG, an application which is currently being marketed as a biofeedback tool for the treatment of rhotic errors in children (Complete-Speech, n.d.).…”

Intensive Treatment for Persisting Rhotic Distortions: A Case Series

“…Visual feedback of the articulators can be an added form of KP feedback (in addition to the verbal KP feedback provided by the clinician) and therefore may aid in acquisition of target motor behaviors (Newell et al, 1990). Several visual feedback options are available for treating RSSEs that affect rhotic production, including acoustic feedback, which can be used to present real-time spectrographic or spectral information related to formant patterns for /ɹ/ (e.g., McAllister Byun & Hitchcock, 2012;McAllister Byun & Campbell, 2016;Ruscello, 1995;Shuster, Ruscello, & Smith, 1992); electropalatography, which can show contact of the lateral margins of the tongue against the molars for /ɹ/ (e.g., Fabus et al, 2015;Gibbon & Lee, 2015;Schmidt, 2007); and ultrasound, which shows realtime images of tongue shapes (e.g., Adler-Bock, Bernhardt, Gick, & Bacsfalvi, 2007;Preston et al, 2014;Preston, Leece, & Maas, 2016, 2017. Ultrasound, which is used in this study, can be used to cue changes in tongue shape or position for a variety of lingual speech sounds (e.g., Bacsfalvi & Bernhardt, 2011;Cleland, Scobbie, & Wrench, 2015), and it is particularly well suited to teach lingual configurations for /ɹ/.…”