Speech therapy help for young

Jul 23 2008 by Chris Robinson, The Journal

CHILDREN in the North with cerebral palsy are taking part in a unique trial to help improve their speech through breathing.

Led by researchers from Newcastle University, the project has already seen an improvement in youngsters with the neurological condition.

The specialist team has worked with 16 children from schools around the region as part of the pilot in a bid to allow them to speak more clearly and confidently.

Researchers used innovative techniques while working with the children in the initial study over a six-week period, three times a week for 30 minutes at a time, to increase the control and co-ordination of their breathing and speech.

Dr Lindsay Pennington, leading the study, said: “Children have difficulty in speaking as they find their movements hard to control. They often don’t get enough air in their lungs and speak very quietly. Sometimes they can’t control the air and it rushes out making the child’s voice very loud at the beginning of a sentence and then petering out very quickly. At the moment, there isn’t concrete evidence to show that speech therapy works. However after conducting the first part of our study, we found that the children were so much more intelligible, not just to people who are used to being around children with cerebral palsy, but also people unfamiliar with their speech.

“We have found that our therapy helps control the breathing movements necessary for speech and makes the children much easier to understand.” After the study received more than £9,000 funding from North child health charity The Children’s Foundation, it has been able to develop. Researchers have now launched a new study to begin in September and will analyse the loudness and clarity of each child before and after the therapy. Software will be used to measure sound waves and the team will compare recordings of the children’s voices, taken six weeks and one week before the therapy, and one week and six weeks after it has finished.

Professor Oliver James, chair of the charity’s research advisory panel, said: “Although the team aren’t saying they can cure children’s speech difficulties, they are confident that with the therapy they have been trialling, they can help the children improve the strength and quality of the words which come out of their mouths. This makes them much more confident and independent in taking part in day to day activities, which a lot of us take for granted, such as answering questions in class or joining in a conversation with their family.”