Assessment of speech and voice features of chi̇ldren with motor speech disorder between the age of 4-12

Aim: The aim of our study is to examine some vocal characteristics of children with motor speech disorder between the ages of 4-12 and children with motor speech disorders and to compare them between these two groups. In our study, the aim is to examine the effects of muscle coordination and postural deficiencies due to motor speech disorder on values such as jitter, shimmer, HNR and fundamental frequency, and difficulty in speech. Material and Method: A total of 60 children, including 30 children aged 4-12 with motor speech disorder and 30 children with healthy development (without motor speech disorder), were included in our study. During the phonation of the /a/ sound of all children, the sound was recorded with the Audacity program. Sound recordings were taken with a Samson Go Mic microphone. Taken audio recordings were analyzed with customized Praat, jitter, shimmer, HNR and fundamental frequency Results: In our study, it was observed that there was no significant difference between the gender variable for baseline frequency in girls and boys, in line with the literature. A statistically significant difference was found between the patient and control groups according to the Jitter, Shimmer and HNR variables in the participants included in the study (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between boys and girls according to jitter, shimmer and HNR variables (p>0.05). It was found that all of the patient participants had difficulty in speaking. Conclusion: Conclusion: Dysarthria, one of the motor speech disorders, is defined as a neuromotor problem. Dysarthria reflects the abnormalities in the production of power, speed, range, stability and correct tone of movements required for respiration, phonation, resonance, prosody and articulation. As a result of our study, it was seen that sound perturbation values and harmonic values were affected in children with motor speech disorder.