During the 2015-2016 Academic year, and the following summer, I participated in the UC McNair Scholars Program. This program included a seminar course and an 8-week summer research experience. I worked under Dr. Suzanne Boyce and Sarah Hamilton (PhD candidate) in the UC Speech Lab of the College of Allied Health Sciences on a project titled "A Comparison Study of Vowel Formants in Children with Residual Speech Sound Disorders (RSSDs) and Typically-Developing Children".
This project was the first step in a broader question of whether or not Ultrasound Biofeedback Therapy improves intelligibility in children with RSSDs. The specific question for this particular project was to see if there are differences in the vowels of children with RSSDs and typically developing children. To do this, we decided to look at the formant values of vowels, rather than going, simply, by what we hear. In the end we found that there were, indeed, differences in formant values, and that, more specifically, children with RSSDs have difficulty controlling their tongue.
Also, during this 8-week internship I was mentored on concepts in speech science, trained in the summer /r/ program of the UC Speech Language and Hearing Clinic, given opportunities to present my research findings in oral and poster presentation sessions, and granted to go on a week-long graduate school tour. I learned so much from this experience and had fun along the way!
This project was the first step in a broader question of whether or not Ultrasound Biofeedback Therapy improves intelligibility in children with RSSDs. The specific question for this particular project was to see if there are differences in the vowels of children with RSSDs and typically developing children. To do this, we decided to look at the formant values of vowels, rather than going, simply, by what we hear. In the end we found that there were, indeed, differences in formant values, and that, more specifically, children with RSSDs have difficulty controlling their tongue.
Also, during this 8-week internship I was mentored on concepts in speech science, trained in the summer /r/ program of the UC Speech Language and Hearing Clinic, given opportunities to present my research findings in oral and poster presentation sessions, and granted to go on a week-long graduate school tour. I learned so much from this experience and had fun along the way!