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Abstract
Aims
Oral motor training has been widely accepted as a component of treatment for children with speech sound disorders (SSDs). However, the relationship between speech sound accuracy and oral motor performance is not well established. The objective of this study was twofold: (1) to explore the oral motor performance in children with suspected SSDs and children with typically developing speech; and (2) to examine the sound errors and performance in specific non-speech tasks in these two groups.
Methods
We compared the oral motor performance in Cantonese-speaking children with suspected speech disorders (n = 75) and that in those with typically developing speech (n = 59). The results were analyzed by using Chi-square tests.
Results
Chi-square tests revealed no significant differences in oral motor performance between the two groups of children. The results suggest that there is no direct relationship between oral motor performance and speech sound production.
Conclusions
Although the same anatomical structures are involved in speech sound production and oral motor performance, the two do not seem to share the same coordinative motor control strategies. Non-speech oral motor exercises (NS-OMEs) should be used with caution in the management of children with speech sound disorders.
Acknowledgements
We sincerely appreciate the participation of the children and parents in the ‘Speech Screening Day’ organized by the Institute of Human Communicative Research and the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. We are also very grateful to the SLPs and SLP students who volunteered in the speech screening event. We would like to thank Dr. David John Wilmshurst and Ian Wheeler for commenting on the draft of this paper.