Approximately 50 % of all people with cerebral palsy (CP) have some form of speech or language disorder. Many of these have dysarthria, a neurological disorder that causes an impaired ability to articulate and effects respiration and phonation. Many people with CP consider dysarthria to be the biggest impairment as it has a major impact on their communication. Despite this there are limited voice and speech treatments for this group of patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether treatment of speech and voice functions with intensive voice treatment (LSVT LOUD) can improve the speech intelligibility in patients with dysarthria secondary to CP. Five participants (3 male and 2 female) were recruited and underwent 16 one-hour sessions of intensive voice treatment. A single-case experimental design (SCED) was used and testing occurred two weeks prior to (PRE), during (TREAT) and immediately following (POST) treatment. Measures of sound pressure level (SPL) in decibel (dB) and speech intelligibility on word and sentence level were conducted, alongside perceptual ratings of voice quality. Before and after treatment, participants answered a self-response form to evaluate their speech and communication. In addition to this the participants also estimated how effortful the treatment was. The results showed improvement in speech intelligibility and increased dB SPL on word and sentence level for four of the five participants. Perceptual ratings showed minor improvements in voice quality. Two out of five participants rated an improvement in their speech and communication. Overall the participants estimated the treatment as “very strenuous”. This study has contributed knowledge about the effects of LSVT LOUD on a new age group of people with dysarthria secondary to CP. More research is needed to draw conclusions on the effects of LSVT LOUD on speech intelligibility for people with dysarthria secondary to CP. / Ungefär 50 % av alla personer med cerebral pares (CP) har någon form av tal- eller språksvårighet. Många av dessa har dysartri, vilket innebär nedsatt artikulationsförmåga samt påverkan på andning och fonation till följd av neurologisk skada. Många personer med CP anser att dysartri är den största funktionsnedsättningen då den försvårar kommunikationen. Trots detta saknas utvärderade tal- och röstbehandlingsmetoder för patientgruppen. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om behandling av tal- och röstfunktionen med intensiv röstbehandling (LSVT LOUD) kan påverka talförståeligheten för patienter med dysartri sekundärt till CP. Fem deltagare rekryterades (3 manliga och 2 kvinnliga): dessa genomgick 16 behandlingssessioner med intensiv röstbehandling á 1 timme. Till studien användes en single-case experimental design (SCED) där testning utfördes två veckor innan (PRE), under (TREAT) och direkt efter (POST) behandling. Mätningar gjordes på sound pressure level (SPL) i decibel (dB) och talförståelighet på ord - och meningsnivå. Dessutom gjordes perceptuella bedömningar av röstkvaliteten. Innan och efter behandling utvärderades tal- och kommunikationsförmågan genom ett självsvarsformulär. Deltagarna skattade dessutom hur ansträngande de upplevt behandlingsperioden. Behandlingen resulterade i förbättringar för fyra av fem deltagare gällande röststyrka och ökad talförståelighet på ord- och meningsnivå. Perceptuella bedömningar visade på små förbättringar beträffande röstkvalitet. Två av fem deltagare skattade att deras tal- och kommunikationsförmåga förbättrats efter behandling. Generellt sett upplevde deltagarna behandlingen som “väldigt mycket ansträngande”. Studien har bidragit med kunskap om effekten av LSVT LOUD på en ny åldersgrupp av personer med dysartri till följd av CP. Mer forskning behövs för att kunna dra slutsatser om effekten av LSVT LOUD på talförståeligheten för personer med dysartri sekundärt till CP.

TITLE: Therapy of voice disorders AUTHOR: Michaela Horáková DEPARTMENT: Department of special education SUPERVISOR: Mgr. Miroslava Kotvová ABSTRACT: This diploma thesis deals with the voice disorders and their treatment options. The character of the thesis is mostly theoretical and the thesis is divided into four general parts. The first one elaborates the anatomy and physiology of the vocal tract as a basis for understanding mechanisms of voice pathology development, the second one is devoted to voice disorders and their categorization, and the third part deals with their therapy, as the czech literature reflects it. The last part of this thesis is dedicated to voice disorders therapy in the United States with a practical focus on therapeutical program Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) widely used abroad during the treatment of voice disorders especially connected to Parkinson disease. The program is considered to be very effective and it is really popular outside of the Czech republic. LSVT is not well known in the Czech republic yet and there is actually only limited information devoted to this type of voice therapy. For this reason the thesis is based on analysis and comparison of the available foreign texts in order to inform the czech public about its theoretical basis, structure and system,...