Organizing Logopedic Therapy for Babies With Unilateral and Bilateral Brain Lesion in the Prespeech Period

Abstract

The goal of the research was to point out the importance of early prespeech therapy for babies suffering from at-birth-acquired unilateral or bilateral lesion in the prespeech period of development. On the basis of existing studies and experience in the field, a protocol and methodology for the observation of the phonological development of infants in the period between 6 and 24 months were established. Mothers made notes of the changes in the child's development in a diary specially prepared for the research. The data from the diary and the babies' reaction to the therapy in the logopedic office were inserted into the protocol. The research itself involved an experimental and a control group. The control group consisted of 60 babies without brain lesion, while the experimental group was composed of 30 babies suffering from brain lesion obtained at birth as a result of hemorrhaging, hypoxia, and asphyxia. The phonological development of the babies was observed through the ages of 6, 9, 12, and 24 months. This article demonstrates the significant differences in phonological development between the experimental and the control group. The results of the research show that phonological development in the first 6, 9, 12, and 24 months does indeed exist in the experimental group (despite the differences when compared with the control group) and can be enhanced with early monitoring and logopedic rehabilitation in the case of babies with brain lesion.

Keywords

prespeech period brain damage vocalization

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bortolini U. , Zmarich C. , Fior R. , Bonifacio S. Word-initial voicing in the productions of stops in normal and preterm Italian infants. Int J Pediatr Otorhi. 1995;31:191-206.

Uzgiris Č. , Hunt J. , Mc V. La valutazione nella prima infanzia. Chicago: University of Illinois; 1979.

Trincker D. Phonation, Motorik der Sprache (13). In: Taschenbuch der Physiologie III/2. Stuttgart, Germany: Gustav Fischer Verlag; 1977:177-198.

Awad GA An outpatient treatment program for young children with pervasive developmental disorder. Am J Psychother. 1995; 49:28-46.

Jakobson R. , Fant M. , Halle M. Preliminaries to Speech Analysis: The Distinctive Features and Their Correlates . Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press; 1951.

Vihman MM , Micune L.

When is a word a word?

J Child Lang. 1994;21:517-542.

Dubowitz L. , Dubowitz V. The Neurological Assessment of the Preterm and Full-Term Newborn Infant. London, UK: Villiam Hainemann Medical Books; 1981.

Amiel-Tison C. , Grenier A. Evaluation Neurologique du nouveau— nee et du nourisson. Paris, France: Masson; 1980.

Čuturiċ N. Adaptation of Brunet-Lezine's Scale of Psychological Development in Early Childhood. Ljubljana, Slovenia: Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Work Production ; 1973.

10.

Gec V. , Ivanuš J.

Phonological Development of Infants With Perinatal Brain Lesions, Speech and Language. Beograd, Serbia: Institute for Experimental Phonetics and Speech

Pathology; 2003.

11.

Vladisavljeviċ S. Podela pojava glasova i razvoja psihomotorike kod beba od 6 meseci do 24 meseca [The distribution of sounds and the development of psychomotoric skills with babies from the age of 6 to 24 months]. Belgrad, Serbia: University of Belgrade, Department of Defectology; 1990.