The Treatment of Lateral Fricatives and Affricates Using Electropalatography: A Case Study of a 10 Year Old Girl

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Hickey, Jenny

Abstract: A case study is presented in which the technique of Electropalatography (EPG) (Reading system) was used, comparatively successfully, in the remediation of long-standing lateralisation of fricatives and affricates. The case presented is that of a ten year old girl, whose intellectual ability has been assessed as “borderline dull normal/mild mental handicap”. The child had been receiving speech therapy from the age of two years, and had been diagnosed as presenting with a mild oral dyspraxia. Aspects of her general development suggest elements of an overall mild motor dyspraxia. The results of EPG therapy prompt discussion of the relative importance of the listeners perception versus accurate, “normal” tongue placement throughout the production of speech sounds.

Keywords: Electropalatography (EPG), therapy for lateral fricatives and affricatives

DOI: 10.3233/ACS-1992-2109

Journal: Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 80-87, 1992