Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology最新文献

Background and Aim: To date, little research is available that objectively quantifies female adolescent singing-voice characteristics in light of the physiological and functional developments that occur from puberty to adulthood. This exploratory study sought to augment the pool of data available that offers objective voice analysis of female singers in late adolescence.Methods: Using long-term average spectra (LTAS) and inverse filtering techniques, dynamic range and voice-source characteristics were determined in a cohort of vocally healthy cis-gender female adolescent singers (17 to 19 years) from high-school choirs in Aotearoa New Zealand. Non-parametric statistics were used to determine associations and significant differences.Results: Wide intersubject variation was seen between dynamic range, spectral measures of harmonic organisation (formant cluster prominence, FCP), noise components in the spectrum (high-frequency energy ratio, HFER), and the normalised amplitude quotient (NAQ) suggesting great variability in ability to control phonatory mechanisms such as subglottal pressure (P_sub), glottal configuration and adduction, and vocal tract shaping. A strong association between the HFER and NAQ suggest that these non-invasive measures may offer complimentary insights into vocal function, specifically with regard to glottal adduction and turbulent noise in the voice signal.Conclusion: Knowledge of the range of variation within healthy adolescent singers is necessary for the development of effective and inclusive pedagogical practices, and for vocal-health professionals working with singers of this age. LTAS and inverse filtering are useful non-invasive tools for determining such characteristics.

This study aims to extend current knowledge about the possibilities and challenges encountered by Swedish speech and language pathologists (SLPs) in targeting everyday language and communication in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). To explore this matter, unstructured focus groups were conducted where 15 SLPs, working with children with DLD, shared their views on the alignment between their clinical practices and children's everyday lives. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, which resulted in five themes: It's everyday life that matters; As an SLP, you're not a part of the child's everyday life; How do we merge the different worlds?; Resources at home vary, and The employer sets the framework for clinical practices. The SLPs stressed the importance of targeting everyday skills and needs, but they experienced themselves as being detached from the children's daily context. Collaboration with caregivers and (pre)school staff was emphasised; however, the resources and capacity of the caregivers and staff varied, and this was experienced as a challenge for providing the most appropriate care. Some children and their families were situated in a multifaceted context and needed more extensive care, and this group was described as increasing. However, the services that the SLPs were able to offer varied and were largely regulated by organisational constraints. Individualised services are crucial for ensuring a positive development for children with DLD and for empowering caregivers to be effective collaborative partners in intervention. Therefore, it is essential for SLPs to have the time and resources to ensure high-quality care.

Background: The health measures imposed by COVID-19 on workplaces created adverse communication settings. Our cross-sectional study aimed to document the nature and severity of the vocal difficulties experienced by educational professionals a few weeks after the implementation of health measures in schools and early childhood settings in Quebec, Canada while teaching in class.Methods: To this end, we conducted a self-report survey containing nine close-ended questions and one open-ended question regarding self-reported vocal difficulties and the implementation of health measures. The survey was answered by 194 educational professionals in October 2020.Results: Since the introduction of the health measures, respondents reported often or always: having difficulty making themselves heard (66.5%), needing to strain their voice (68.1%), having throat pain after work (38.1%), and being concerned about their vocal health (25.2%). 35.6% perceived that their voice changed moderately or a lot and 75.3% did not feel equipped to take care of their vocal health. Fisher's exact tests revealed the difficulties overall were more present in women (p < 0.05).Discussion: The qualitative analysis of open-ended question answers shows a circular process at play, where the vocal responses to the COVID-19-induced communication barriers contribute to creating more problematic communication settings, thus increasing the challenges for vocal health. Better equipping the professionals to take care of their vocal health by developing resources in their professional settings to help them face vocal challenges in both every day as well as extreme situations, should be a priority.

Purpose: To investigate: (a) Swedish Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) dysphagia management with TMC, including terminology, inter-professional collaboration, and knowledge of standard TMC guides; and (b) the current TMC terminology/guides used within university hospitals, in Sweden.

Method: Part One surveyed SLPs from 19/21 regions. Recruitment occurred via regional SLP/department managers, the national SLP association and email lists. Non-parametric statistics were employed. Part Two explored TMC guides within the seven university hospitals.

Result: The initial survey identified 78 Swedish TMC terms. Overlap of both TMC terms and descriptions occurred. Different terms to describe same/similar textures were used by 70% of the SLPs. Knowledge of established guides was high (>90%), though TMC was often (60%) based on locally developed documents. Collaboration with other professions was reported by 97% of SLPs, however almost half perceived collaboration to be inadequate, citing difficulties with transfer of TMC recommendations. Variance in TMC terms/guides within/across the university hospitals occurred.

Conclusion: Variable TMC terminology is used in Sweden, impacting optimal dysphagia management. Future research should focus upon implementation of standardised TMC terminology.

Aim: Voice interventions for transgender individuals can address several speech and voice parameters - fundamental frequency, resonance, intonation, rhythm, and intensity. In this study, we focus on fundamental voice frequency and build on existing research to test one technique that has been shown in a preliminary study to effectively adjust fundamental voice frequency in line with clients' goals.

Method: More specifically, we employed an adaptation of melodic intonation therapy (MIT) to assess whether it can raise trans women's average fundamental frequency to a significant degree. Eleven trans women participated in two one-to-one therapy sessions, four weeks apart.

Results: Results pointed to a statistically significant rise in both their singing and speaking fundamental frequencies following the adapted MIT therapy sessions. Participants were also successful in imitating upward fundamental frequency contours when singing and in producing them independently in the speech modality.

Future directions: Longitudinal studies are warranted to determine whether the observed positive results translate into long-term benefits.

Background: To the best of our knowledge, studies on the relationship between spectral energy distribution and the degree of perceived twang-like voices are still sparse. Through an auditory-perceptual test we aimed to explore the spectral features that may relate with the auditory-perception of twang-like voices.

Methods: Ten judges who were blind to the test's tasks and stimuli rated the amount of twang perceived on seventy-six audio samples. The stimuli consisted of twenty voices recorded from eight CCM singers who sustained the vowel [a:] in different pitches, with and without a twang-like voice. Also, forty filtered and sixteen synthesized-manipulated stimuli were included.

Results and conclusions: Based on the intra-rater reliability scores, four judges were identified as suitable to be included in the analyses. Results showed that the frequency of F₁ and F₂ correlated strongly with the auditory-perception of twang-like voices (0.90 and 0.74, respectively), whereas F₃ showed a moderate negative correlation (-0.52). The frequency difference between F₁ and F₃ showed a strong negative correlation (-0.82). The mean energy between 1-2 kHz and 2-3 kHz correlated moderately (0.51 and 0.42, respectively). The frequency of F₄ and F₅, and the energy above 3 kHz showed weak correlations. Since the spectral changes under 2 kHz have been associated with the jaw, lips, and tongue adjustments (i.e. vowel articulation) and a higher vertical laryngeal position might affect the frequency of all formants (including F₁ and F₂), our results suggest that vowel articulation and the laryngeal height may be relevant when performing twang-like voices.

Objective: Current methods of eliciting running speech for subjective rating, or perceptual analysis, in the assessment of pediatric voice disorders are not standardized. Whilst different assessment tools have different requirements, a commonality is the requirement to judge the perceptual characteristics of the individual's everyday speaking voice. However, it is unclear whether current practices yield ecologically valid running speech samples. The aim of this study was to analyse the length and characteristics of conversational responses, to stimuli that were designed to elicit running speech samples from pediatric clients.

Method: Twenty conversations, conducted as part of the evaluation of voice in a pediatric population, were analysed. Length of responses, number of responses and question types were recorded.

Results: The median maximum utterance length was 15.9 s; seven participants presented with a maximum of less than 10 s. Response length was significantly associated with question type, F = 10.68, p<.001. The most frequent number of responses produced was 11 (range = 17, IQR = 5, 11). There was a moderate correlation between response length and number of responses, r(18)=.53, p=.02.

Discussion: These data demonstrated that informal conversational methods did not consistently yield running speech samples of greater than 10 s in length, the minimum sample length recommended by the CAPE-V protocol. There was considerable variability in the characteristics of the responses produced by participants. Using a task such as a narrative re-tell might allow for better standardization of responses, including elicitation of vocal behaviors of interest, as well as yield a longer sample.