A Preliminary Investigation of Within-Word Silent Intervals Produced by Children With and Without Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Purpose: The categorization of silent intervals during speech production is nec-essary for accurate measurement of articulation rate and pauses. The primary purpose of this preliminary study was to examine the within-word silent interval associated with the stop closure in word-final stop consonants produced by children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders. Method: Seven children diagnosed with either cerebral palsy or Down syn-drome (i.e., children with neurodevelopmental disorders) and eight typically developing children produced a reading passage. Participants were between the ages of 11 and 16 years. Fifty-eight words from the reading passage were identified as having word-final stop consonants. The closure duration of the word-final stop consonant was calculated, both in absolute duration and per-cent pause time. The articulation rate of the entire passage was calculated. The number of closure durations that met or exceeded the minimum duration threshold to be considered a pause (150 ms) was examined descriptively. Results: Children with neurodevelopmental disorders produced significantly lon-ger closure durations and significantly slower articulation rates than typically developing children. Children with neurodevelopmental disorders produced clo-sure durations that met or exceeded the minimum duration threshold of a pause, but typically developing children, generally, did not. Conclusion: These data indicate the need to examine the location of silent intervals that meet the minimum duration threshold of a pause and correct for articulatory events during the measurement of articulation rate and pauses in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.