Velopharyngeal Timing and Speech Sound Disorders of Unknown Etiology

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate velopharyngeal timing in children with and without speech sound disorders (SSDs) of unknown etiology. Six U.S. preschool-age children participated in the investigation. Three of the children had typically developing speech and language and three had SSDs of unknown etiology. Aerodynamic testing of the velopharyngeal mechanism was conducted during repetitions of the word “hamper” for six temporal variables. Two of the six temporal data points achieved statistical significance at the level of p < .05: duration of nasal airflow (p = .024) and start of oral pressure to end of oral pressure (p = .016). Per Cohen’s d, small effect sizes were noted for two variables, medium effect sizes were noted for one variable, and large effect sizes were noted for one variable.