A voicing defect is a persistent replacement of voiced consonant phonemes with paired deaf ones. The opposite violation is less common - a deafening defect, i.e., phonation of deaf speech sounds with the participation of the voice (voiced). The causes of defects in voicedness and deafness can be phonemic underdevelopment, dysarthria, hearing loss, voice disorders, bilingualism. Diagnosis of violations is carried out during the examination of oral speech. The correction is aimed at differentiating phonemes on the basis of "deafness-voicedness". Some nosologies require medical interventions (hearing aids, PTL, pharmacotherapy).
The disadvantages of pronouncing voiced and voiceless consonants in modern speech therapy are divided into two independent groups: a defect in voicing (voicing) and a defect in deafening (deafness). Voiceless and voiced pairs in Russian have stop (П-Б, Т-Д, К-Г) and slotted (Ф-В, С-З, Ш-Ж) sounds.
At the same time, the phonemes in each pair have the same pattern of articulatory organs, but differ in the participation of the voice. Voicing defects are more often subject to explosive (occlusive) ones, since their pronunciation is accompanied by a shorter and less noticeable vibration of the vocal cords.
The following types and degrees of defects are distinguished:
Stunning of voiced consonants is a consequence of poorly differentiated auditory perception of phonemes identical in articulation, the pronunciation of which differs only in the participation of the voice. The child does not pick up acoustic differences, and therefore mixes the sounds of speech. At the same time, own articulation remains correct. Phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment occurs with acoustic-phonemic dyslalia, erased dysarthria. The voicing defect underlies the subsequent development of acoustic dysgraphia and dyslexia.
Partial hearing loss is a fairly common cause of a voicing defect. Due to insufficient auditory control, children make sound substitutions for acoustic close phonemes. Such substitutions often lead to a distortion of the semantics of words (“crust” instead of “hill”). Along with one's own incorrect pronunciation, the process of perception and understanding of the speech of others is hampered. Therefore, in a conversation with a hearing-impaired child, words must be pronounced loudly and clearly enough.
The tonic spasm of the laryngeal muscles during phonation makes it impossible for the vocal folds to vibrate, and therefore excludes the formation of a voice. In this case, all voiced sounds become dull sounding. This condition is characteristic of functional spastic dysphonia, which usually occurs with excessive forcing of the voice.
The occurrence of voicing defects in rhinolalia is associated with a distorted acoustic effect that occurs when pronouncing speech sounds. The interaction of articulatory, vocal and respiratory muscles is disrupted, which leads to a total disruption of sound pronunciation.
With an open rhinolalia, occlusive sounds have a soundless articulation due to air leakage through the nasal cavity. The lack of correct auditory reinforcement leads to substitutions of sounds with similar acoustic properties.
The phonetic design of speech suffers in all patients with dysarthria. The reasons may lie both in peripheral and central paresis of the vocal and articulatory muscles. Substitutions of voiced consonants for deaf ones are noted in many forms of dysarthria:
The occurrence of a voicing defect can be observed in bilingual children. This is due to the mixing of phonemes of two languages, which the child constantly hears in the family or purposefully studies. If the phonetics of the native language is represented mainly by deaf consonants, then in Russian speech the sounds will be deafened.
The stunning defect is typical of the spastic form of pseudobulbar dysarthria. The muscles of the speech apparatus are in hypertonicity, which makes it difficult for them to voluntarily move. The timbre of the voice is nasal. With this defect, deaf speech sounds are pronounced loudly. Simultaneously with the voicing of the deaf, the stunning of voiced phonemes can also be noted. There is softening (palatalization) of hard consonants.
Voicing defect
With persistent stunning of voiced consonants, it is necessary to consult an ENT doctor and register an audiogram, since quite often a defect in voicing is combined with hearing loss. Speech therapy diagnostics for defects in voicing and stunning requires a comprehensive study of the speech status:
If the cause of voicing defects lies in hearing loss, first of all it is necessary to resolve the issue of restoring auditory function. Most often, in these cases, hearing aids are used. With dysarthria, courses of drug treatment, physiotherapy, and classical massage are carried out. Facial clefts that cause open rhinolalia are subject to surgical correction (uranoplasty, rhinocheiloplasty).
The main role in the correction of defects in stunning and voicing belongs to the speech therapist. The course focuses on the following areas: