Ballard, Kirrie J.

Objectives The aim was for the appointed committee of the Academy of Neurological Communication Disorders and Sciences to conduct a systematic review of published intervention studies of acquired apraxia of speech (AOS), updating the previous committee's review article from 2006. Method A systematic search of 11 databases identified 215 articles, with 26 meeting inclusion criteria of (a) stating intention to measure effects of treatment on AOS and (b) data representing treatment effects for at least 1 individual stated to have AOS. Results All studies involved within-participant experimental designs, with sample sizes of 1 to 44 (median = 1). Confidence in diagnosis was rated high to reasonable in 18 of 26 studies. Most studies (24/26) reported on articulatory–kinematic approaches; 2 applied rhythm/rate control methods. Six studies had sufficient experimental control for Class III rating according to the Clinical Practice Guidelines Process Manual (American Academy of Neurology, 2011), with 15 others satisfying all criteria for Class III except use of independent or objective outcome measurement. Conclusions The most important global clinical conclusion from this review is that the weight of evidence supports a strong effect for both articulatory–kinematic and rate/rhythm approaches to AOS treatment. The quantity of work, experimental rigor, and reporting of diagnostic criteria continue to improve and strengthen confidence in the corpus of research.

PurposeThe primary goal of this case study was to describe the speech, prosody, and voice characteristics of a mother and daughter with a breakpoint in a balanced 7;13 chromosomal translocation that disrupted the transcription gene,FOXP2(cf. J. B. Tomblin et al., 2005). As with affected members of the widely cited KE family, whose communicative disorders have been associated with a point mutation in theFOXP2gene, both mother and daughter had cognitive, language, and speech challenges. A 2nd goal of the study was to illustrate in detail, the types of speech, prosody, and voice metrics that can contribute to phenotype sharpening in speech-genetics research.MethodA speech, prosody, and voice assessment protocol was administered twice within a 4-month period. Analyses were aided by comparing profiles from the present speakers (theTBfamily) with those from 2 groups of adult speakers: 7 speakers with acquired (with one exception) spastic or spastic-flaccid dysarthria and 14 speakers with acquired apraxia of speech.ResultsThe descriptive and inferential statistical findings for 13 speech, prosody, and voice variable supported the conclusion that both mother and daughter had spastic dysarthria, an apraxia of speech, and residual developmental distortion errors.ConclusionThese findings are consistent with, but also extend, the reported communicative disorders in affected members of the KE family. A companion article (K. J. Ballard, L. D. Shriberg, J. R. Duffy, & J. B. Tomblin, 2006) reports information from the orofacial and speech motor control measures administered to the same family; reports on neuropsychological and neuroimaging findings are in preparation.