Speak Well
說
Speech Sound Disorder
Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) refers to any difficulty or combination of difficulties with oral perception, oral motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and speech segments. SSD would negatively affect speech intelligibility, which leads to problems in interpreting one's speech.
語音障礙是指在口腔感知、口部肌肉活動及語音知識上的困難。語音障礙會引致語音清晰度下降，並影響別人理解所說的內容及意思。
語音障礙
Common SSD Symptoms
語音障礙症狀
Phoneme omission/deletion
語音省略
Phoneme substitution
語音替代
Phoneme addition
插音
Phoneme distortion/dialect
語音異常/口音
Tonal errors
音調錯誤
Pediatric Feeding Disorder
小兒餵食障礙
Gross/Fine motor delay
大/小肌肉發展遲緩
Mouth breathing
用口呼吸
Sensory integration issues
感覺統合問題
Poor oral awareness
口腔感知弱
Oral hypersensitivity
口腔過敏
Drooling
流涎
Motor Speech Based Speech Therapy
以口腔運動為本的言語治療
Control in oral motor muscles directly affect our speech intelligibility. Our speech therapist would target on MUSCLES rather than phonemes, which make our speech therapy more efficient.
口部肌肉控制直接影響語音清晰度，因此，我們的言語治療師是集中訓練口部肌肉而非單一語音，而令言語治療效果更顯著。
JAW Movement 下顎移動 Jaw controls vertical plane (上下) of movement in speech. For instance, a. From closed to open jaw 由合口到開口 (e.g. /ma1/ 媽) b. From open to closed jaw 由開口到合口 (e.g. /ap3/ 鴨) c. From closed to open to closed jaw 由合口至開口，再返回合口 (e.g. /sam1/ 衫)
LIPS Movement 嘴唇移動 Lips control horizontal plane (橫向) of movement in speech. For instance, a. Lip retraction 嘴唇向橫依嘴 (e.g. /ji6/ 二) b. Lip protrusion 嘴唇向前嘟嘴 (e.g. /jy4/ 魚) c. Lip approximation 合唇 (e.g. /jip6/ 葉) d. Lower lip individual movement 下唇獨立移動 (e.g. /fa1/ 花)
TONGUE Movement 舌頭移動 Tongue controls anterior-posterior (前後) plane of movement in speech. For instance, a. From anterior to posterior 由前去後 (e.g. /tɔ1/ 多) b. From posterior to anterior 由後去前 (e.g. /kin3/ 見)
Coordination 協調能力 While producing speech, we require to simultaneously control muscles at the SAME time 同一時間控制多於一組肌肉 in order to accurately produce a word.
Dissociation 分離獨立移動 While producing speech, we sometimes require to move muscles independently 肌肉獨立地移動, which mean moving muscle(s) while stablizing the others. For instance, a. Moving jaw when stablizing head 保持頭部穩定時移動下顎 (e.g. /sa1/ 沙) b. Moving lips when stablizing jaw 保持下顎穩定時移動嘴唇 (e.g. /jiu3/ 要) c. Moving tongue when stablizing jaw 保持下顎穩定時移動舌頭 (e.g. /min6/ 麵)
Register our consultation or assessment and complete a standardised questionnaire.
請即登記我們的諮詢/評估服務及填寫標準化問卷。
Speak Well 說
Our Specialized Speech Therapy Program
Speech Therapy - To improve: Speech sound disorder, developmental phonological disorder, dysarthria, apraxia of speech
言語治療針對改善：語音異常、發展性語音障礙、神經性構音障礙、言語失用症
Plan the Speech
言語運動計劃
In order to produce speech, many body systems have to be involved. Our brain has to send signals to request lungs to supply air, control the movement of vocal cords and execute relevant orofacial muscles to produce accurate words for communication. As coordination of different systems is very complex and require sophisticated time control, failure in this motor planning and programming would hinder us from precise speech production.
為了產生語音，我們的大腦必須發送訊息要求肺部提供氧氣，繼而控制聲帶，並執行相關的口部肌肉移動，以準確地說出詞句作溝通。由於不同系統的協調非常複雜，並且需精準的時間控刺。因此，若在運動規劃時出現問題的話，我們所產出的語音亦將會出錯。
Execute the Speech
執行言語計劃
Proper control in the movement of orofacial muscles together, generally including jaw, lips and tongue, is essential for correct speech production. Jaw as the “spine” of the articulatory subsystems plays an important role in controlling the direction and restricting the range of movement relative to the maximum possible movements observed during chewing. Lips could help achieve different phonemes by controlling the interlabial distance, for example, extending the length of the vocal tract to produce /o/ and stopping and releasing the airflow to produce /p/. Tongue has a significant effect in the overall speech intelligibility but its movement is the finest among all other articulators. By changing the position and shape of the tongue induced by intrinsic and extrinsic tongue muscles, the overall shape of the vocal tract would be altered, thereby the acoustic signal produced. Therefore, our speech therapist must have to systematically analyse the motor speech system.
精細地控制口部肌肉運動是說出正確語音的重要一環，當中可包括下顎、嘴唇及舌頭。下顎的重要性在於提供說話時所需的穩定性，並同時控制說話時上下移動的方向及幅度。嘴唇則通過控制橫向移動來協助說出不同的語音，例如：延長聲道以說出/o/、停留及釋放氣流以說出/p-/。至於舌頭，在整體語音清晰度的影響甚高，通過內在及外在的舌頭肌肉改變舌頭在口腔內的位置和形狀，從而改變聲道的整體形狀及產出的語音。因此，言語治療師必須詳細分析運動語言系統。
Mean the Speech
言語表達
Accurate speech production is a fundamental tool to facilitate efficient two-way communication. By combining different phonemes, meaningful words can be formulated. These semantically understandable words can be linguistically joined together, complex messages and ideas can then be conveyed for different purposes. In order to produce words accurately, our speech therapists would use specialised oral motor techniques to promote speech development and/or correct the speech errors.
準確的語音產生是促進雙向溝通的重要工具。透過組合不同的音素，可以形成有意義的字詞。當這些字詞組合成語句時，便可傳達不同目的的社交訊息及想法。我們的言語治療師將運用口腔肌肉重組技術促進語音發展及/或改正發音錯誤。
Review the Speech
自我審聽
Self-repair imply a monitoring system to verify the correctness of an ongoing motor activity and response output, including motor speech system. It is very common in both conversation and monologues. By the phonemic awareness, phonological knowledge and feedback systems, speech errors can be spot out and encourage self-correction. Feedback systems require intact body sensations, for example, proprioception sense helps determine the positions and motions of the articulator while auditory sense facilitates hear and parse our own speech.
為了確保執行運動的系統之準確性，自我監控是不可或缺的，當中包括運動語言系統。在談話及演講過程中，這個現象十分普遍。通過音素意識、語音知識和多個反饋系統，我們可發現語音錯誤，並自我糾正。反饋系統需要透過身體的不同感官系統，例如：本體覺有助確定口部肌肉的位置和移動，而聽覺有助於自我監聽和剖析自己所說的。