Hypokinetic Dysarthria Secondary to TBI: A Case Study of Speech
Breathing, Intelligibility, and Responses to Treatment

N Solomon, K Walsh, M Makashay, J Gurevich, L Kessler

Previously, a case study of a man with hypokinetic-spastic dysarthria secondary to TBI revealed improvements in speech breathing and speech intelligibility following the 4-week course of LSVT and an additional 6-weeks of therapy that incorporated breathing exercises, physical therapy, and LSVT-type exercises. A 59 year-old man, 1-year post-TBI, has been identified with similar neurologic and speech presentation. The purpose of this case study was to replicate the previous treatments, in reverse order, with this new patient. The previous study’s design was improved further by including multiple baseline assessments. Pre-treatment sentence intelligibility scores ranged from 63%-88%, and appeared to be related in part to effort level and loudness. Speech breathing was characterized by lower than normal lung volume levels, small lung volume excursions, and few syllables per breath. Treatment initially targeted breathing function alone, and continued with the LSVT. Results from multiple baseline measures and after each of the two phases of therapy will be presented.