# Discriminating Children with Speech Sound Disorders from Children with Typically Developing Speech Using the Motor Speech Hierarchy Probe Words: A Preliminary Analysis of Mandibular Control

## TL;DR

This study shows that a speech test called MSH-PWs can help tell apart children with typical speech from those with speech disorders by analyzing jaw movements.

## Contribution

The study introduces preliminary evidence that MSH-PWs mandibular control subtest can effectively discriminate children with speech disorders from typically developing children.

## Key findings

- A significant difference was found in jaw range, voicing transitions, and total mandibular scores between TD and SSD groups.
- Objective kinematic measures showed good agreement with perceptual judgments of jaw range and control.
- Balanced classification accuracy of 0.79 was achieved in distinguishing TD and SSD groups.

## Abstract

Background/Objectives: The Motor Speech Hierarchy (MSH) Probe Words (PWs) have yet to be validated as effective in discriminating between children with impaired and children with typically developing speech motor control. This preliminary study first examined the effectiveness of the mandibular control subtest of the MSH-PWs in distinguishing between typically developing (TD) and speech sound-disordered (SSD) children aged between 3 years 0 months and 3 years 6 months. Secondly, we compared automatically derived kinematic measures of jaw range and control with MSH-PW consensus scoring to assist in identifying deficits in mandibular control. Methods: Forty-one children with TD speech and 13 with SSD produced the 10 words of the mandibular stage of the MSH-PWs. A consensus team of speech pathologists observed video recordings of the words to score motor speech control and phonetic accuracy, as detailed in the MSH-PW scoring criteria. Specific measures of jaw and lip movements during speech were also extracted to derive the objective measurements, with agreement between the perceptual and objective measures of jaw range and jaw control evaluated. Results: A significant difference between TD and SSD groups was found for jaw range (p = 0.006), voicing transitions (p = 0.004) and total mandibular scores (p = 0.015). SSD and TD group discrimination was significant (at alpha = 0.01) with a balanced classification accuracy of 0.79. Initial analysis indicates objective kinematic measures using facial tracking show good agreement with perceptual judgements of jaw range and jaw control. Conclusions: The preliminary data indicate the MSH-PWs can discriminate TD speech from SSD at the level of mandibular control and can be used by clinicians to assess motor speech control. Further investigation of objective measures to support perceptual scoring is indicated.