This Down Syndrome (DS) speech intelligibility diagnostic treatment study is a pilot clinical intervention study assessing the efficacy of an integrative speech treatment approach for individuals with DS. DS is a common genetic disorder that causes lifelong intellectual disability where speech intelligibility is typically compromised affecting quality of life. The clinical management of communication disorders in individuals with DS is a priority for NIH's National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorder. The proposed treatment addresses the void in speech intervention and is based on our Vocal Tract Development Laboratory's (VTLab) research findings on anatomic, acoustic and perceptual studies from speakers with DS. Having identified specific difficulties in the production and perception of select vowels, this treatment focuses on accurate vowel production, while combining and adapting two established speech treatment approaches on articulatory accuracy and motor learning. The articulatory treatment uses the cycles phonological approach and the motor learning treatment is script training.~Findings from this clinical intervention study are expected to pave the path towards optimal management of speech intelligibility in speakers with DS. The current pilot study is open to males based on findings from our lab's research that males are less intelligible than their female peers. The investigators also expect findings to provide the preliminary data needed to bridge the gap towards an exploratory clinical research proposal on functional anatomy as an intervention strategy for both males and females.
This Down Syndrome (DS) speech intelligibility diagnostic treatment study is a pilot clinical intervention study assessing the efficacy of a speech treatment approach for male participants with DS between the ages of 7-16 years.