View clinical trials related to Speech Disorders.
Filter by:According to studies, speech disorders with unknown causes (idiopathic) affect approximately 5% of the population at some point in their life. Some of these disorders like, stuttering and cluttering, are known for being detected early, during speech development. Stuttering is characterized by sound and syllable repetitions and consonant/vowel prolongations. When stuttering is moderate to severe, it can interfere with a person's job and social activities. Speech articulation disorders are characterized by omissions, or substitutions of speech sounds. The speech of a person who clutters is often difficult to understand. People are often unaware of the errors they make when speaking causing treatment of the condition to be very difficult. The purpose of this research is to study an extended family whose members exhibit a pure form of speech articulation disorders In addition, the study will use data and information gathered from the study and use it to develop guidelines (criteria) for defining and differentiating patients with speech disorders.
The main objectives of this study are: 1) to determine whether various levels of severity of oral candidiasis (thrush) in the child are associated with different levels of speech production, feeding skills, and self-concept, and 2) to assess the effect of the reduction of oral thrush over time on the speech function, feeding skills, and self-concept in HIV-infected patients who already are receiving various antifungal medications for treatment of their thrush (Note: Decisions regarding antifungal therapy are made completely independent from this study). Children with HIV disease, ages 6-21 years, who have oral thrush are eligible to paricipate in the study. The child and his/her parent will be asked to complete a variety of measures at specific time intervals over approximately one month during visits to the National Institutes of Health for treatment on other protocols. First, a nurse will rate the location and severity of thrush in the child's mouth. Then the parent will complete questionnaires assessing the effect of oral thrush on the child's feeding and speech skills and everyday functioning. Finally, the child will be administered a brief speech and oral-motor evaluation and will complete some questionnaires about how the thrush affects his/her day-to-day activities and self-concept. The results of this study may help to better understand the cause of expressive language deficits observed in some children with HIV infection. More specifically, it will determine if any speech and feeding problems of HIV-infected children are associated with oral thrush. Learning more about the impact of oral thrush on the speech, feeding, and the self-concept of children with HIV disease may be used for parent and patient education and to develop rehabilitative recommendations to benefit HIV-infected patients with oral thrush.
Our past ultrasound research has indicated a need for baseline normative tongue data against which to compare our disordered speech populations. Subjects with normal speech and hearing who represent different ages and sexes, will be studied with respect to tongue shape and movement patterns. Recently developed parameters such as curve fitting, curve averaging, and polar coordinates will be used to create baseline data categories. In addition, new parameters and improved instruments will be developed as previously to produce a data base which can be used across disciplines.
This study will assess the use of ultrasound-a test that uses sound waves to produce images-as a diagnostic tool for evaluating speech and swallowing. The following categories of individuals may be eligible for this study: 1) healthy volunteers between 20 and 85 years old with normal speech and hearing, 2) patients 6 to 85 years old with developmental neurological deficits in speech or swallowing, and 3) patients with tumors of the oral cavity, pharynx or larynx being treated at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Participants will undergo a 30-minute speech and oral motion evaluation, in which they imitate sounds, words and oral movements while a speech pathologist evaluates their lip, tongue and palate movements. They may also be asked to drink a small amount of water for examination of swallowing function. For the ultrasound examination, a 3/4-inch transducer (device for transmitting and receiving sound waves) is placed under the participant's chin. While the transducer is in place, the subject 1) repeats sounds and a series of syllables in several sequences, 2) swallows three times with and without a small amount of water, and 3) swallows 3 teaspoons of non-fat pudding. The ultrasound images are recorded on tape for later analysis.