Prosody In Cerebral Palsy

The Impact of Pitch Perturbation on Prosodic Contrasts in Speakers with Cerebral Palsy: An investigation of prosodic control in speakers with dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy.

Lab Members: Kate Connaghan, Rupal Patel

This study extends the work on adaptation to pitch perturbation in healthy speakers (Patel et al., 2011) to speakers with dysarthria. We employ an auditory perturbation paradigm in which a speaker’s production of contrastive stress is altered and fed back to the speaker in near real-time. We are studying the impact of this altered feedback on prosodic perception and production in speakers with congenital dysarthria. The results of these studies may provide insights toward novel and efficacious inventions that address the complex communication needs of individuals with cerebral palsy and speech impairment.