| Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder that is caused by neurological anomalies and that has a negative impact on communication. One aspect of communication frequently affected in individuals with dysarthria is prosody: the intonation, stress, and rhythm of speech.;Despite the growing awareness that prosody is an important aspect of speech, prosody remains a problematic subject for speech and language therapists, and there is little agreement on how disordered prosody should be defined, assessed, and treated. In the case of dysarthria, there is a shortage of prosody assessment and treatment tools internationally as well as for the Dutch language.;Concerning assessment, the aim of this thesis is therefore to gain insight into how prosody can be defined and characterized, and, based upon this knowledge, to undertake an attempt to standardize the assessment of Dutch prosody in dysarthria. The proposed approach aims at assessing prosody from a communicative point of view, that is, assessing the ability to convey or process the various meanings that can be communicated through prosody.;Concerning treatment, the aim is to develop a standardized and comprehensive Dutch prosody treatment programme that facilitates effective intervention, on the one hand, and to measure the effectiveness of this treatment programme, on the other hand.;A final aim is the introduction of speech technology in prosody assessment and treatment, to enable therapists to obtain objective and fast prosody measures, and to enable individuals with dysarthria to practise prosody intensively and independently from the presence of a therapist. |
