Estimation of Scanning Index in the Speech of Dysarthric Speakers

Abstract

Dysarthric speech is characterized by prosodic subsystem errors which are considered unique to the different varieties of dysarthrias. These characteristics have been well established perceptually in the speech of dysarthrics. 'Scanning index' (SI) is an acoustic measure that has been used to study the speech of Ataxic variety of dysarthrics, which has yielded evidence for the perceptual characteristic of 'staccato speech'. An attempt was made to estimate SI and variability measures in the different varieties of dysarthrics where overlapping features of prosodic disturbances are evidenced. Also, tasks of varying linguistic complexities were selected, including a syllable repetition and sentence repetition, to throw a light on the possibilities of differential temporal control, over different tasks in dysarthrics. The results are discussed for the measures of intra-utterance and inter-utterance variabilities and scanning index.