Speech Production Enhancement Using Augmentative Communication for Kids

NCT07173049 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 5 other identifiers: 2025-08852R01DC009411-16A481800L&S/COMMUN SCI & DISORDERSProtocol Version 7/21/2025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 100
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if speech supplementation can improve speech intelligibility in children ages 7 to 17 years with cerebral palsy. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• To what extent can speech supplementation improve intelligibility in children with CP compared with habitual speech produced without speech supplementation?
• How much intelligibility change is necessary for meaningful improvement when children use speech supplementation strategies? Participants will:
• complete speech and language assessments
• complete a speech pre-test using habitual speech
• learn a speech supplementation strategy with training from a speech-language pathologist
• complete a speech post-test using the speech supplementation strategy

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy (CP); Intelligibility, Speech; Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Keywords

Cerebral Palsy; Speech; Intelligibility; Speech supplementation; Augmentative and alternative communication

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in speech intelligibility scores from pre- to post- intervention as measured by listener transcription of speech samples

  Quantify the change in speech intelligibility associated with the use of speech supplementation strategies by having listeners orthographically transcribe speech samples. Intelligibility scores are percentage calculations of the number of words identified correctly by listeners, ranging from 0 to 100 percent. Higher percentages reflect greater intelligibility, or a better understanding of what the speaker said by naive listeners.

  Before and after intervention within one session in a single day 1

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Perceived change in intelligibility from pre- to post-intervention as measured by listener ratings of the magnitude of difference between pre- and post- intervention speech samples.

  Before and after intervention within one session in a single day 1

Other Outcomes (1)

• Exploratory: Change in speech rate from pre- to post- intervention as measured by difference in words per minute produced between pre- and post- intervention speech samples

  Before and after intervention within one session in a single day 1

Study Arms (1)

speech supplementation

EXPERIMENTAL

Children will complete a pre-test on their speech prior to learning speech supplementation strategy use, and will be taught to use speech supplementation through one-on-one teaching. They will then complete a post test on their speech while using speech supplementation.

Behavioral: AAC Speech supplementation

Interventions

AAC Speech supplementation BEHAVIORAL

The speech supplementation intervention involves learning to point to pictures, words, or letters on a communication board while simultaneously producing speech. Children will spend up to 30 minutes learning to use the strategy in one- on-one interaction with a speech therapist and demonstrate mastery by using the strategy successfully on a series of test stimuli.

speech supplementation

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 17 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Medical diagnosis of cerebral palsy, or a similar, related condition that affects early motor development and presents as a chronic motor disability
• Age between 7 and 17 years
• Clinical dysarthria with speech intelligibility between 10-85 percent
• Able to produce connected speech in English, with a minimum utterance length of 3 words
• Able to use hands to point to items on a communication board
• Cognitive/language skills that enable basic picture identification on a communication board
• Pass pure tone hearing screening

You may not qualify if:

• Vision impairment that precludes being able to see items on a communication board.
• Not suitable for participation due to other reasons at the discretion of the investigators.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Wisconsin, Madison: lead
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Wisconsin-Madison Waisman Center

Madison, Wisconsin, 53705, United States

Location

Related Publications (6)

• Sakash A, Mahr TJ, Natzke PEM, Hustad KC. Effects of Rate Manipulation on Intelligibility in Children With Cerebral Palsy. Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2020 Feb 7;29(1):127-141. doi: 10.1044/2019_AJSLP-19-0047. Epub 2019 Dec 23.

  PMID: 31869242 BACKGROUND

• Korkalainen J, McCabe P, Smidt A, Morgan C. Motor Speech Interventions for Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2023 Jan 12;66(1):110-125. doi: 10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00375. Epub 2023 Jan 9.

  PMID: 36623233 BACKGROUND

• Levy ES, Chang YM, Ancelle JA, McAuliffe MJ. Acoustic and Perceptual Consequences of Speech Cues for Children With Dysarthria. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Jun 22;60(6S):1766-1779. doi: 10.1044/2017_JSLHR-S-16-0274.

  PMID: 28655046 BACKGROUND

• Hustad KC, Lee J. Changes in speech production associated with alphabet supplementation. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2008 Dec;51(6):1438-50. doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2008/07-0185). Epub 2008 Jul 29.

  PMID: 18664687 BACKGROUND

• Hustad KC, Jones T, Dailey S. Implementing speech supplementation strategies: effects on intelligibility and speech rate of individuals with chronic severe dysarthria. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2003 Apr;46(2):462-74.

  PMID: 14700386 BACKGROUND

• Stipancic KL, Yunusova Y, Berry JD, Green JR. Minimally Detectable Change and Minimal Clinically Important Difference of a Decline in Sentence Intelligibility and Speaking Rate for Individuals With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2018 Nov 8;61(11):2757-2771. doi: 10.1044/2018_JSLHR-S-17-0366.

  PMID: 30383220 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy; Speech Intelligibility; Speech

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Brain Damage, Chronic; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Verbal Behavior; Communication; Behavior

Study Officials

• Katherine C Hustad, PhD

  University of Wisconsin, Madison

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

WISC Lab

CONTACT

608-263-5822; speak@waisman.wisc.edu

Heather Mabie

CONTACT

608-263-5822; hmabie@wisc.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2025
• First Posted: September 15, 2025
• Study Start (Estimated): May 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2029
• Last Updated: April 15, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Beginning 9 months after publication of primary outcomes, and ending 5 years after that date.
• Access Criteria: Data will be shared with researchers whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee identified for this purpose. Data will be shared for the following types of analyses: Independent verification of study outcomes or to conduct subsequent clinical research. Proposals should be directed to kchustad@wisc.edu. If approved after review by regulatory counsel, requestors will enter into a formal data sharing agreement. Data will be shared via encrypted single-user file transmission protocol.

Locations

US (1)