Pediatric Care of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background: Differential diagnosis and monitoring of treatments for children with neurodevelopmental disorders continue to present a challenge in pediatric care. Deficits in the control of coordinated movement of limb, speech and voice production often present in those children diagnosed within the spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders. The measurement of speech and voice production allows for a sensitive and quantitative description of coordinated movement. Vocal fold vibration and movement of the articulators may be quantitatively assessed with acoustical measures of fundamental frequency (F0) and formant frequencies (F1 and F2) as well as syllable duration. When embedded within a stimuli designed to elicit prosodic contrasts (Casper, et al., 2006) these measures provide an objective index for monitoring speech motor control.

Objective: Normal child development is marked by intelligible speech, gradual increase in length and complexity of utterances and flexible prosody. Both standard assessment and acoustic analyses of speech are reviewed as measures for evaluating neurological status.

Method: Differential diagnosis and treatment protocols directed at improving speech motor control were used to assess and monitor neurological status in pre-school children aged 3-5 years. Case studies presented evaluate verbal apraxia, sensory processing and delayed language development.

Results and Conclusion: The results of these analyses and the other uploaded clinical data provide objective measures for the rate of progress of a child diagnosed within the spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorder in the areas of intelligibility, length and complexity of utterances, and speech prosody. The data and results can be shared across physicians, clinicians and researchers to improve the efficacy of treatment protocols and identify areas of intervention that need emphasis in developing the child’s neurophysiological ability to produce and perceive spoken language.