Speech Motor Control in Children with Autism v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Speech Motor Control in Children with Autism: An investigation of speech sound errors produced by children with autism and the interaction with movement and language skills.
IRAS ID
214608
Contact name
Louise McKeever
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Strathclyde
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
No suitable register , No suitable register
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
Children with autism have difficulties with social interaction and communication. For some of these children, despite having good language skills their speech is characterised by errors normally found in younger children; speech sound errors (SSEs). These SSEs are around three times more common in children with autism than those without, the cause is not well understood.
We will investigate whether these SSEs are a result of a fine movement (fine motor) difficulty or a result of other cognitive interactions such as language and non-verbal IQ.
Difficulties with coordinating the body, for example coordinating finger movements (fine motor) and larger body movements (gross motor) have been identified in children with autism. However, no research clearly links a difficulty with speech movements (speech motor control) to a difficulty with body movements in children with autism. This may be because it is difficult to measure speech movements, as the tongue is largely hidden from view during speech.
This project will use perceptual and instrumental analysis of tongue movements and finger movements to investigate if an interaction exists between speech motor control and fine motor control errors in autism. Behavioural analysis will be carried out using standard clinic assessments of speech, language and movement. Instrumental analysis will be carried out using to measure movements of the tongue using standard medical ultrasound and fine motor control using qualysis optical motion tracking.
Determining the nature of the SSEs in autism will help speech and language therapists choose appropriate speech therapies. The findings of the project will contribute to our understanding of the difficulties experienced by individuals with autism.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
17/WS/0103
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jun 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion