Cover not available
Part of
The Development of Prosody in First Language Acquisition
Edited by Pilar Prieto and Núria Esteve-Gibert
[Trends in Language Acquisition Research 23] 2018
► pp. 343–362

Chapter 17
Prosodic development in atypical populations

This chapter concerns various atypical conditions in children and how the development of prosody may be affected in them. Methods for evaluating prosodic ability are considered, taking into account receptive and expressive ability. Brief summaries of research into several conditions in which prosodic development is affected are given, including hearing impairment, language disorder, Down syndrome, childhood onset fluency disorder, Williams syndrome and a more detailed treatment of autism spectrum disorder. The chapter concludes with a brief summary of current strategies for rehabilitation.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • What is atypical prosody?
  • Assessment procedures
  • Conditions with atypical prosody
    • Language impairment
    • Hearing impairment
    • Down syndrome (DS)
    • Childhood-onset fluency disorder (formerly stuttering)
    • Williams syndrome
    • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
  • Intervention: Some programs
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 24 May 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tilar.23.17pep
References (98)
References
Alcock, K. J., Passingham, R. E., Watkins, K., & Vargha-Khadem, F. (2000). Pitch and timing abilities in inherited speech and language impairment. Brain and Language, 75, 34–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders (5th ed., DSM-5). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Arbisi-Kelm, T., Hollister, J., Zebrowski, P., & Julia Gupta, J. (2014). Prosodic variability in the speech of children who stutter. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 135, 2389 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Asperger, H. (1944). Die ‘Autistichen Psychopathen’ im Kindesalter. Archiv fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117, 76–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ballard, K. J., Robin, D. A., McCabe, P., & McDonald, J. (2010). A treatment for dysprosody in childhood apraxia of speech. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(5), 1227–1245. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baltaxe, C. A. M., & Simmons, J. Q. (1985). Prosodic development in normal and autistic children. In E. Schopler & G. B. Mesibov (Eds.), Communication problems in autism (pp.95–125). New York, NY: Plenum Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baltaxe, C., & Guthrie, D. (1987). The use of primary sentence stress by normal, aphasic and autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 17, 255–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baron-Cohen, S., & Staunton, R. (1994). Do children with autism acquire the phonology of their peers? An examination of group identification through the window of bilingualism. First Language, 14, 241–248.DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bellon-Harn, M. L. (2011). Targeting prosody: A case study of an adolescent. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 2, 109–117. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bellugi, U., Lichtenberger, L., Jones, W., Lai, Z., & George, M. (2000). The neurocognitive profile of Williams syndrome: A complex pattern of strengths and weaknesses. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12, 7–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bonneh, Y. S., Levanon Y., Dean-Pardo, O., Lossos, L., & Adini, Y. (2010). Abnormal speech spectrum and increased pitch variability in young autistic children. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 4, 237.Google Scholar
Boone, D. R. (1966). Modification of the voices of deaf children. Volta Review, 68, 686–692.Google Scholar
Boutsen, F. R., & Christman, S. S. (2002). Prosody in apraxia of speech. Seminars in Speech and Language, 23, 245–255. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Calvert, D. R., & Silverman, S. R. (1983). Speech and deafness. Washington, DC: Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf.Google Scholar
Campbell, N., & Mokhtari, P. (2003). Voice quality: The 4th prosodic dimension. Proceedings of 15th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences – Barcelona, 2417–2420.
Corriveau, K., Pasquini, E., & Goswami, U. (2007). Basic auditory processing skills and specific language impairment: A new look at an old hypothesis. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50(3), 647–666. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Crystal, D. (1982). Profiling linguistic disability. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Davidson, R. J., Scherer, K. R., & Hill Goldsmith, H. (2009). Handbook of affective sciences. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Diehl, J. J., & Paul, R. (2009). The assessment and treatment of prosodic disorders and neurological theories of prosody. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(4), 287–292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diehl, J. J., Bennetto, L., Watson, D., Gunlogson C., & McDonough, J. (2008). Resolving ambiguity: A psycholinguistic approach to understanding prosody processing in high-functioning autism. Brain & Language, 106, 144–152. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diehl, J. J., Watson, D., Bennetto, L., McDonough, J., & Gunlogson, C. (2009). An acoustic analysis of prosody in high-functioning autism. Applied Psycholinguistics, 30(3), 385–404. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diehl, J. J., & Paul, R. (2012). Acoustic differences in the imitation of prosodic patterns in children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 6, 123–134. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dworzynski, K., Remington, A., Rijksdijk, F., Howell, P., & Plomin, R. (2007). Genetic etiology in cases of recovered and persistent stuttering in an unselected longitudinal sample of young twins. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16, 169–178 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Enderby, P. (1983). Frenchay dysarthria assessment. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.Google Scholar
Fay, W., & Schuler, A. L. (1980). Emerging language in autistic children. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Filipe, M. G., Frota, S., Castro, S. L., & Vicente, S. G. (2014). Atypical prosody in Asperger syndrome: Perceptual and acoustic measurements. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44(8), 1972–1981. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fisher, S. E. (2007). Molecular windows into speech and language disorders. Folia Phoniatrica et Logop aedica , 59(3), 130–140. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goswami, U., Gerson, D., & Astruc, L. (2010). Amplitude envelope perception, phonology and prosodic sensitivity in children with developmental dyslexia. Reading & Writing, 23, 995–1019. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Graham, S. A., & Fisher, S. E. (2015). Understanding language from a genomic perspective. Annual Review of Genetics, 49, 131–160. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grossman, R.B., Bemis, R.H., Plesa Skwerer, D., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2010). Lexical and affective prosody in children with high-functioning autism. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 53(3), 778–793. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hargrove, P., Anderson, A., & Jones, J. (2009). A critical review of interventions targeting prosody. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(4), 298–304. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hargrove, P. (2013). Pursuing prosody interventions. Clinical Linguistic and Phonetics, 27(8), 647–660. doi.org/10.3109/02699206.2013.777121 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1997). Prosodic aspects of language impairment in children. Topics in Language Disorders, 17, 76–83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hesling, I., Dilharreguy, B., Peppé, S., Amirault, M., Bouvard, M., & Allard, M. (2010). The integration of prosodic speech in high functioning autism: A preliminary fMRI study. PLoS ONE, 5(7), e11571. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holliman, A. J., Wood, C., & Sheehy, K. (2010). The contribution of sensitivity to speech rhythm and non-speech rhythm to early reading development. Educational Psychology, 30(3), 247–267. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jackson, P., & Kelly, D. (1986). The relationship between word and stress pattern recognition ability and hearing level in hearing impaired young adults. Volta Review, 88, 279–288.Google Scholar
Järvinen-Pasley, A., Peppé, S., King-Smith, G., & Heaton, P. (2008). The relationship between form and function level receptive prosodic abilities in autism.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 38(7), 1328–1340. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–250.Google Scholar
Kent, R. D., & Vorperian, H. K. (2013). Speech impairment in Down syndrome: A review. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 56, 178–210. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klieve, S., & Jeanes, R. C. (2001). Perception of prosodic features by children with cochlear implants: Is it sufficient for understanding meaning differences in language? Deafness and Education International, 3(1), 15–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lenden, J. M., & Flipsen, P. Jr. (2007). Prosody and voice characteristics of children with cochlear implants. Journal of Communication Disorders, 40(1), 66–81 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lowit, A., Kuschmann, A., MacLeod, J., Schaeffler, F., & Mennen, I. (2010). Sentence stress in ataxic dysarthria: A perceptual and acoustic study. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 18, 77–82.Google Scholar
Maguire, G., Yeh, C., & Ito, B. (2012). Overview of the diagnosis and treatment of stuttering. Journal of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, 4(2), 92–97. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marshall, C. R., Harcourt-Brown, S., Ramus, F., & van der Lely, H. K. J. (2009). The link between prosody and language skills in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and/or dyslexia. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 44(4), 466–488. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez-Castilla, P., & Peppé, S. (2008). Developing a test of prosodic ability for speakers of Iberian Spanish. Speech Communication, 50, 900–915. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez-Castilla, P., Sotillo, M., & Campos, R. (2011). Prosodic abilities of Spanish-speaking adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome. Language and Cognitive Processes, 26, 1055–1082. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matsuda, S., & Yamamoto, J. (2013). Intervention for increasing the comprehension of affective prosody in children with autism spectrum disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 7(8), 938–946. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McAlpine, A., Plexico, L. W., Plumb, A. M., & Cleary, J. (2014). Prosody in young verbal children with autism spectrum disorder. Contemporary Issues in Communication Science and Disorders, 41, 120–132.Google Scholar
McCann, J., & Peppé, S. (2003). Prosody in autistic spectrum disorders: A critical review. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 38, 325–350. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McGregor, K.K. & Leonard, L.B. (1994). Subject pronoun and article omissions in the speech of children with specific language impairment: a phonological interpretation. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 37(1), 171–181. DOI: 10.1044/jshr.3701.171 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Most T. (2000). Production and perception of syllable stress by children with normal hearing and children with hearing impairment. Volta Review, 101(2), 51–70.Google Scholar
Most T., & Frank Y. (1991). The relationship between the perception and the production of intonation by hearing impaired children. Volta Review, 93, 301–309.Google Scholar
Nadig, A., & Shaw, H. (2012). Acoustic and perceptual measurement of expressive prosody in high-functioning autism: Increased pitch range and what it means to listeners. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(4), 499–451. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nazzi, T., & Ramus, F. (2003). Perception and acquisition of linguistic rhythm by infants. Speech Communication, 41, 233–243. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Odell, K. H., & Shriberg, L. D. (2001). Prosody-voice characteristics of children and adults with apraxia of speech. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 15, 275–307. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Olejarczuk, P., & Redford, M. (2013). The relative contribution of rhythm, intonation and lexical information to the perception of prosodic disorder. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 19(1), 060154.
Osberger, M. J., & McGarr, N. (1982). Speech production characteristics of the hearing impaired. In N. Lass (Ed.), Speech and language advances in basic research and practice (Vol. 8, pp.221–283). New York, NY: Academic PressGoogle Scholar
Patel, R., Hustad, K. C., Connaghan, K. P., & Furr, W. (2012). Relationship between prosody and intelligibility in children with dysarthria. Journal of Medical Speech Language Pathology, 20(4), 1–5.Google Scholar
Paul, R., Augustyn, A., Klin, A., & Volkmar, F. (2005). Perception and production of prosody by speakers with autistic spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 205–220. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peng, S.-C., Tomblin, J. B., Spencer, L. J., Hurtig, R. R. (2007). Imitative production of rising speech intonation in pediatric cochlear implant recipients. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 50, 1210–1227. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peng, S.-C., Tomblin, J. B., Turner, C. W. (2008). Production and perception of speech intonation in pediatric cochlear implant recipients and individuals with normal hearing. Ear and Hearing, 29, 336–351. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peppé, S., & McCann, J. (2003). Assessing intonation and prosody in children with atypical language development: The PEPS-C test and the revised version. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 17, 345–354. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peppé, S., McCann, J., Gibbon, F., O’Hare, A., & Rutherford, M. (2007). Receptive and expressive prosodic ability in children with high-functioning autism. Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research, 50, 1015–1028. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pettinato, M., & Verhoeven J. (2009). Production and perception of word stress in children and adolescents with Down syndrome. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 13(1), 48–61.Google Scholar
Pilcher, E. S. (1998). Dental care for the patient with Down syndrome. Down Syndrome Research and Practice, 5(3), 111–116 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Plesa-Skwerer, D., Faja, S., Schofield, C., Verbalis, A., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2006). Perceiving facial and vocal expressions of emotion in Williams syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 111(1), 15–26. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Plesa-Skwerer, D., Schofield, C., Verbalis, A., Faja, S., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (2007). Receptive prosody in adolescents and adults with Williams syndrome. Language and Cognitive Processes, 22, 247–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ramig, L. O., Countryman, S., Thompson, L. L., & Horii, Y. (1995). Comparison of two forms of intensive speech treatment for Parkinson disease. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 38, 1232–1251. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reilly, J., Klima, E., & Bellugi, U. (1990). Once more with feeling: Affect and language in atypical populations. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 367–391. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rogers, S. J., & Williams, J. H. G. (2006). Imitation and the social mind: Autism and typical development. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Rosenbek, J. C., Crucian, G. P., Leon, S., Heiber, B., Rodriguez, A. M., Holiway, B., Ketterson, T. U., Ciampitti, M., Singletary, F., Heilman, K. M., & Gonzalez Riothi, L. J.. (2004). Novel treatment for expressive aprosodia: A phase 1 investigation of cognitive and imitative interventions. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10, 786–793. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rothstein, J. A. (2013). Prosody treatment program. Retrieved from [URL].
Rubin-Spitz, J., & McGarr, N. (1986). Perception of stress contrasts by the hearing impaired. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America, 79(1), 10S. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Samuelsson, C. (2011). Prosody intervention: A single subject study of a Swedish boy with prosodic problems. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 27(1), 56–67. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sharda, M., Subhadra, T. P., Sahay, S., Nagaraja, C., Singh, L., Mishra, R., Sen, A., Singhal N., Erickson, D., & Singh, N. C. (2010). Sounds of melody: Pitch patterns of speech in autism. Neuroscience Letters, 478, 42–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shriberg, L. D. (1975). Preliminaries to a social learning theory view of deviant child phonology. Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Speech and Hearing Association, Washington, USA.Google Scholar
Shriberg, L. D., Kwiatkowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1990). Prosody-Voice Screening Profile (PVSP). Tucson, AZ: Communication Skill Builders.Google Scholar
Shriberg, L. D. (2010). Childhood speech sound disorders: From postbehaviorism to the postgenomic era. In R. Paul, & P. Flipsen (Eds.), Speech sound disorders in children (pp.1–33). San Diego, CA: Plural Publishing.Google Scholar
Shriberg, L. D., Paul, R., Black, L. M., & van Santen, J. P. H. (2011). The hypothesis of apraxia of speech in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 405–426. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shriberg, L. D., & Widder C. J. (1990).Speech and prosody characteristics of adults with mental retardation. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 33(4), 627–653. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sparks, R. V., & Holland, A. L. (1976). Melodic Intonation Therapy. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 41(3), 287–297. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snow, D. (2001). Imitation of intonation contours by children with normal and disordered language development. Clinical Linguistic and Phonetics, 15 (7), 567–584. doi.org/10.1080/02699200110078168 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snow, D. (1998). Prosodic markers of syntactic boundaries in the speech of 4-year-old children with normal and disordered language development. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 41, 1158–1170. doi:10.1044/jslhr.4105.1158 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stark, R.E. & Tallal, P. (1981). Selection of children with specific language deficits. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 46, 114–122. doi:10.1044/jshd.4602.114 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stathopoulos, E., Duchan, J., Sonnenmeier, R., & Bruce, N. (1986). Intonation and pausing in deaf speech. Folia Phoniatrica, 38, 1–12. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stojanovik, V., Setter, J. & van Ewijk, L. (2007). Intonation abilities of children with Williams syndrome: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 50(6), 1606–1617. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stojanovik, V. (2010). Prosodic deficits in children with Down syndrome. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 24(2), 145–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Strand, E. A., Stoeckel, R., & Baas, B., (2006). Treatment of severe childhood apraxia of speech: A treatment efficacy study. Journal of Medical Speech-Language Pathology, 14(4), 297–307.Google Scholar
Tager-Flusberg, H., Paul, R., & Lord, C. (2005). Language and communication in autism. In F. Volkmar, R. Paul, A. Klin, & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (pp.650–681). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Thomas-Stonell, N., McClean, M., & Dolman L. (1991). IBM SpeechViewer.Google Scholar
Van der Meulen, S., Janssen, P. & den Os, E. (1997). Prosodic abilities in children with specific language impairment. Journal of Communication Disorders, 30(3), 155–170. doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9924(96)00059-7 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Santen, J. P. H., Prud’hommeaux, E. T., Black, L. M. (2009). Automated assessment of prosody production. Speech Communication, 51(11), 1082–1097. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Santen, J. P. H., Prud’hommeaux, E. T., Black, L. M., & Mitchell, M. (2010). Computational prosodic markers for autism. Autism, 14(3), 215–236. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vohr, B. (2003). Overview: infants and children with hearing loss–part I. Mental Retardation Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 9, 62–64. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, A., Dapretto, M., Hariri, A., Sigman, M., & Brookheimer, S. (2001). Processing affective and linguistic prosody in autism: An fMRI study. Neuroimage, 13, S621–S621. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Weber-Fox, C., Hampton Wray, A., & Arnold, H. (2013). Early childhood stuttering and electrophysiological indices of language processing. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 38(2), 206–221. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wells, B. and Peppé, S. (2003). Intonation abilities of children with speech and language impairment. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 46(1), 5–20. DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2003/001 DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Whitehill, T., Patel, R., & Lai, J. (2008). The use of prosody by children with severe dysarthria: A Cantonese extension study. Journal of Medical Speech Language Pathology, 16, 293–301.Google Scholar
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

Filipe, Marisa G., Cátia Severino, Marina Vigário & Sónia Frota
2024. Development and validation of a parental report of toddlers’ prosodic skills. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics 38:6 ► pp. 509 ff. DOI logo
López‐Riobóo, Elena & Pastora Martínez‐Castilla
2024. Prosodic skills in Spanish‐speaking adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders 59:4 ► pp. 1284 ff. DOI logo
Kallay, Jeffrey E., Laura Dilley & Melissa A. Redford
2022. Prosodic Development During the Early School-Age Years. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research 65:11 ► pp. 4025 ff. DOI logo
Soncin, Geovana, Luiza Polli & Larissa Cristina Berti
2022. Use of secondary cues in prosodic focus marking in speech of children with phonological disorder. DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada 38:3 DOI logo
Pronina, Mariia, Iris Hübscher, Ingrid Vilà-Giménez & Pilar Prieto
2021. Bridging the Gap Between Prosody and Pragmatics: The Acquisition of Pragmatic Prosody in the Preschool Years and Its Relation With Theory of Mind. Frontiers in Psychology 12 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.