SPHR 566 - Motor Speech Disorders

This is a graduate-level course that is required for the master's degree in speech-language pathology. Motor Speech Disorders covers information about prevention, assessment, and treatment of speech disorders that result from neurological injury or disease that affect respiration, phonation, articulation, and/or resonance. Motor Speech Disorders include the speech disorders of apraxia of speech and the dysarthrias. 

Course Description: 

This graduate-level clinical training course will explore the neurological bases for motor speech development and disorders across the lifespan. We will concentrate on classifying the dysarthrias and apraxia of speech according to a speech planning and production model. Content will emphasize clinical assessment and differential diagnosis, with an overview of treatment approach options. We will embrace evidence-based practice by incorporating the best current evidence from: practice guidelines, empirical articles, current theory, expert opinion, and clinical experiences. Learners are encouraged to seek the best available evidence as a rationale for clinical decisions, while incorporating their clinical experience and client's values and preferences. This course will: provide learners with assessment practice, expose learners to various types of motor speech disorders through multimedia presentations, and allow learners to practice a variety of treatment techniques through role-play. 

Helpful Links:

• Practice Guidelines from the Academy of Neurogenic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS)
• Course WIKI, created and maintained my graduate students at PSU, with information about the neurological disorders and specific information about treatment options
• Conceptual Model of Speech Motor Production