Prosody in the Clinic: Causes and Effects of Prosodic Breakdown
Prosody in Practice - Non-segmental Phonetics in Typical and Atypical Speech - Joan Rahilly
Joan Rahilly [+]
Queen's University Belfast
Joan Rahilly is Professor in Linguistics and Phonetics at Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her research focuses on phonetic and phonological manifestations of speech and language disorders, but she is also pursuing work on literacy acquisition amongst young people in the Northern Irish context.
Description
Chapter 4 focuses on the clinical reasons for prosodic disruption and breakdown, with illustration provided from a range of clinical speech types. It examines the ways in which prosodic problems impede affected individuals’ ability to produce and understand communicative signals appropriately, and outlines therapeutic methods for targeting prosody and ameliorating the effects of prosodic breakdown. The chapter acknowledges that only a minority of therapists is convinced of the value of working on prosodic aspects of speech, so it provides an evidenced argument for incorporating prosody therapy into clinical work using methods that are accessible, manageable and productive for SLTs.