Evidence for Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) Assessment

Comprehensive studies on aspects related to the assessment of different biomedical parameters (acoustic and laryngeal signs and oral airflow amplitude), as well as parameters for speech disorders, articulation rate, speech inconsistency, and speech stimulability, are essential for better professional practice and to understand misarticulations in children with speech sound disorders (SSDs). Different equipments that enable noninvasive collection and analysis of data have become more common in speech-language pathology practice. Studies recently conducted by our research group have emphasized the evaluation of auditory-perceptual processing by means of assessments of central auditory processing, electrophysiology of hearing—considering that pure-tone, speech audiometry, and tympanometry are routinely used with children during the diagnostic phase and motor speech production performed by acoustic analysis of speech, electroglottography, aerodynamic measures, and ultrasound tongue imaging. This chapter presents the recent advances observed in studies with Brazilian-Portuguese speakers aiming to improve the assessment of speech sound disorders and to understand better the relationship between the different processing mechanisms involved in speech