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Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders Vol.55 721-728 November 1990.
© American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
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Impairment of Speech Intelligibility in Men with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Raymond D. Kent 1, Jane F. Kent 1, Gary Weismer 1, Robert L. Sufit 2, John C. Rosenbek 3, Ruth E. Martin 4, and Benjamin R. Brooks 2

1 Department of Communicative Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2 Department of Neurology, Center for Health Sciences University of Wisconsin-Madison
3 Speech Pathology Service, Veterans Administration Hospital Madison, WI
4 Department of Communicative Disorders University of Wisconsin-Madison

Speech intelligibility was studied in a group of 25 male patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The object of the study was to determine the phonetic impairments underlying the speech intelligibility deficits that frequently accompany ALS. Analyses with a word intelligibility test indicated that the most disrupted phonetic features involved phonatory (voicing contrast) function, velopharyngeal valving, place and manner of articulation for lingual consonants, and regulation of tongue height for vowels. The mean error proportion for the five most severely affected features correlated highly (0.97) with the intelligibility score (percent correct). The phonetic feature analyses are one index of bulbar muscle impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and also may help to direct the speech management in these individuals.

Key Words: dysarthria • amyotrophic lateral sclerosis • intelligibility • speech articulation • phonetic analysis

Submitted on August 31, 1989
Accepted on January 9, 1990






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