The aim of the present study was to compare two differenttypes of assessment of Dysarthria to be able to conclude which methodmight be more suitable for use in research and in clinical practice.Five speech pathologists with extensive experience assessed 20different recordings of individuals with dysarthric speech using twodifferent forms, one more detailed and one designed for a more overallassessment. In the detailed form 30 aspects of voice and speech wereanalyzed. In the short form 5 overall aspects of voice and speech wereanalyzed. Six of the recordings were duplicated to serve forassessment intra-judge reliability for each form. The results show thatthere was a high correlation between the two forms and that theymeasures the same types of speech deviations although on differentlevels of details.

The aim of this paper was to investigate how 40 typical speakerswith Finnish accent, aged 65-84 years, performed in speech assessmentthrough Dysartribedömningen, a Swedish Dysarthria assessment instrument.Their results were compared with results of a matched Swedish nativespeaking reference group. Both groups were assessed in areas offunction/structure, prosody/intelligibility and through a survey oncommunication. Results indicated that the performances of the Finnishparticipant group were estimated as more deviant than the Swedish,considering all areas. The Finnish participants were deviant in articulationand they had a significantly lower speech rate in reading. They also hadsignificantly lower scores in intelligibility compared to the reference group.The results of the survey of communication showed that the Finnishparticipants estimated their levels of activity and participation to besignificantly more limited compared to the reference group.

Speech anomalies have been described as characteristic symptoms forthe 22q11 deletion syndrome. However, research on speech and voice in adultswith the syndrome is still scarce. Previous research has indicated that speech andvoice anomalies seen in children with the syndrome might have neurologicalcauses. The aim of this study is to investigate speech and voice in a group ofadults diagnosed with the 22q11 deletion syndrome, with extra focus onanomalies with possible neurological cause. The researched group consisted of24 adults between the ages 19 to 38 with a verified 22q11-deletion, 16 womenand 8 men.

Every year about 30000 people have a stroke. It is caused by either a bleeding or a blood clot, and depending on where the damage is, the patient can get different types of difficulties following after the stroke. About 40 % of all stroke patients sufferfrom some kind of speech and/or communication difficulty, like aphasia or Dysarthria. As hospital staff it´s important to know how to communicate with these people, to get a deeper understanding regards their needs.Aim:The aim of this study is to out of a patient's perspectivedescribeexperiences ofcommunication difficulties that can follow after a stroke.Method:A content analysis with a qualitative approach was used to analyse five autobiographies.Results:The result showed in what way stroke patients experienced their communication difficulties, and how they felt about the hospital staffs treatment related to their communication difficulties. During the analysis two major themes emerged: suffering and wellbeing.

Speech disorders are common in children with 22q11-deletion syndrome, but there is limited knowledge about speech in adults with this syndrome. The aim of this study is to describe speech and voice in adultswith 22q11-deletion syndrome, and compare the results with a control group.Ten adults between 19-49 years participated in each group. The study wasbased on the Swedish Dysarthria assessment, Dysartribedömningen. Thetested abilities were respiration, phonation, oral motor function, velopharyngeal function, articulation, prosody and intelligibility. Communicative participation was examined as well.

The aim of the study was to investigate the performance of postlingually deaf adults on parts of the swedish Dysarthria test Dysartribedömningen, and to compare these results with a matched group consisting of normal hearing speakers without any known speech disorder. The group consisted of 17 participants ranging between 42-86 years of age. Participants were assessed focusing on articulation, prosody, intelligibility and through a self-assessment of communicative participation. There was a statistically significant difference between groups on prosody that manifested primarily as a slower speaking rate in the cochlear implant users. No significant differences between groups as to articulation, intelligibility or communicative participation could be found.

SammanfattningBakgrund: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) i nucleus ventralis intermedius i thalamus (VIM) eller caudala zona incerta (cZi) ger goda effekter på tremorsymptomen för patienter med essentiell tremor. Patienterna som behandlats med DBS kan få bieffekter som i vissa fall leder till talpåverkan, så kallad stimuleringsinducerad dysartri. Huruvida det finns risk för bieffekter som drabbar röstens funktion hos patienter med essentiell tremor saknas studier kring men man vet att grundsjukdomen kan påverka rösten akustiskt samt att vissa patienter utvecklar rösttremor. Att drabbas av en bieffekt efter DBS kan ha en inverkan på hur patienten subjektivt upplever resultatet av behandlingen.   Mål: Att undersöka om patienter med essentiell tremor som genomgått DBS subjektivt upplever någon form av röst- eller talbesvär jämfört med en frisk, ålders- och könsmatchad kontrollgrupp. Metod: I studien deltog sammanlagt 42 deltagare varav 21 tillhörde en patientgrupp med essentiell tremor som genomgått DBS i cZi och de övriga 21 tillhörde en frisk, ålders- och könsmatchad kontrollgrupp. Deltagarna i de båda grupperna fick fylla i två formulär, RHI som berör röstens funktion och SOFT som berör talets funktion.