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L Wolk

Publications and source records attributed to L Wolk.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1993

The emerging phonological system of an autistic child.

This case report provides a detailed phonological investigation of the speech of an 8-year-old autistic boy. Three approaches were used for elicitation of speech: delayed imitation, object naming, and a connected speech sample. Phonetic inventory analysis revealed that stops, nasals, and glides were generally present, whereas fricatives, affricates, and the liquid /r/ were absent. There were also positional restrictions on the use of specific sounds. This information, together with a phonological process analysis, revealed: (a) the existence of several phonological processes that are common in normal development; (b) the persistence of several phonological processes, e.g., velar fronting, beyond the expected age; (c) the occurrence of some unusual sound changes, e.g., extensive glottal replacement and segment coalescence; (d) evidence of "chronological mismatch" (Grunwell, 1981); and (e) restricted use of contrasts (Ingram, 1976). The subject's use of phonological processes resulted in extensive homonymy, which, together with process interactions and the use of jargon, resulted in severely reduced intelligibility. This child appeared to be acquiring his phonological system in at least a partly unique way, showing some typical patterns as well as some patterns that rarely appear in normally developing children.

Articulation Disorders↗
PubMed1993

Coexistence of stuttering and disordered phonology in young children.

The purpose of the present study was to assess differences in stuttering, phonological, and diadochokinetic behaviors in young children who exhibit both stuttering and disordered phonology and children who exhibit only one of the disorders. Subjects were 21 male children (aged 4 to 6 years), representing three groups of seven children each: (a) stuttering and normal phonological abilities (S+NP), (b) stuttering and disordered phonology (S+DP), and (c) normal fluency and disordered phonology (NF+DP). Stuttering behavior was assessed during a 30-minute conversational speech task; phonological behavior was assessed during a 162 item picture-naming task; and diadochokinetic abilities were assessed during bi- and multisyllable productions. Results indicated that the S+DP group produced significantly more sound prolongations and significantly fewer iterations per whole-word repetition than the S+NP group. However, there were no differences between the two groups in other stuttering indices. Moreover, no differences were noted between the S+DP and NF+DP groups in phonological behavior. Diadochokinetic rates did not differ among the three groups. The possibility of two types of stuttering, one occurring with and one without disordered phonology, is discussed.

Articulation Disorders↗
PubMed1990

Comorbidity of stuttering and disordered phonology in young children.

Young stutterers frequently exhibit concomitant speech and/or language disorders. The co-occurrence of these disorders is, however, not yet well understood. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the notion of "comorbidity" as it relates to the field of speech-language pathology: specifically, to discuss comorbidity (coexistence) of stuttering and disordered phonology in young children. Literature on concomitant speech and language disorders in young stutterers is reviewed, with special reference to the prevalence of articulatory/phonological disorders in young stutterers. Future research on the coexistence of two speech and language disorders is encouraged, as well as the consideration of diagnostic treatment and prognostic implications for children who exhibit both stuttering and disordered phonology as opposed to children who exhibit each disorder in isolation.

Child↗
PubMed1986

Markedness analysis of consonant error productions in apraxia of speech.

This study applied a markedness analysis of consonant error productions to three adult aphasic patients with apraxia of speech. Single consonants and initial consonant clusters were investigated, employing both naming tasks and spontaneous narrative tasks. Results showed that phonemes of lower complexity values tended to substitute for phonemes of higher complexity values more than the reverse, and successive attempts at self-correction tended to reveal a progression toward the target segment in terms of markedness complexity. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A phonological investigation of four siblings with childhood autism.

Multiple autistic siblings of four or more are extremely rare. This study carried out a phonological investigation of four siblings in a unique family. Phonological investigations were carried out on four siblings with childhood autism (one female and three males). In addition, behavioral characteristics were described and compared among the four children. The two methods used for speech elicitation were object naming and spontaneous speech utterances. Data analyses included phonetic inventory and phonological process analyses. Phonological investigations showed that these autistic children, at least the more severely impaired ones, do not only exhibit delayed phonological behavior, but also show some atypical patterns that rarely occur in normal development. Findings from this study reveal five general patterns of phonological behavior, namely: (a) evidence of several phonological processes that are common in normal development; (b) persistence of several phonological processes, such as labialization, cluster reduction, or final consonant deletion, beyond the expected age; (c) evidence of unusual sound changes, such as extensive segment coalescence, frication of liquids, and velarization; (d) evidence of "chronological mismatch" (Grunwell, 1981), which is the notion of the absence of earlier sounds co-occurring with characteristics of later development; and (e) restricted use of contrasts. These findings support earlier work on a single autistic child using phonological investigations (Wolk & Edwards, 1993), but contrast with all previous research suggesting that autistic children exhibit delayed rather than unusual phonological development. Clinical implications are suggested.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Phonological assessment: a systematic comparison of conversation and picture naming.

The purpose of the present study was to systematically compare two methods of speech elicitation for phonological assessment: conversation and picture naming. Subjects were 13 male, phonologically impaired children (aged 4.2 to 5.11 years). All were English speaking and had received no prior speech-language therapy. The children's performance was assessed on a conversational speech task (CST) and a 162-item picture naming task (PNT) using three levels of phonological analysis. The CST and PNT generally yielded similar sound error patterns, and severity measures on the two tasks were highly correlated. However, the PNT yielded more phonological errors. It is suggested that both methods of speech elicitation are useful clinical tools for assessment. However, to obtain a thorough sample of a child's speech output, an extensive, well-designed PNT may tap the child's phonological system more deeply, may be more efficient in some cases, and may represent a good index of phonological ability.

Child, Preschool↗