Ultrasonography of tongue movements for the /l/ sound and characterization by gender in children with typical and atypical speech development

ABSTRACT Objective: to compare the articulatory gestures of the /l/ sound, characterized by gender variable, of children with typical and atypical speech development. Methods: the sample was composed of 60 children, 30 with typical speech development and 30 with atypical speech development, aged between 4 years and 8 years and 11 months, of both genders, being the /l/ sound acquired for all children. The articulatory data (ultrasound image of tongue movement) were collected from the recording of tri/polysyllabic words with the sound /l/, considering the maximum elevation of the tongue point analyzed through the Articulate Assistant Advanced (AAA) software. The mean tongue contours of typical and atypical children were compared to the gender variable in order to observe possible differences between these groups. Results: there was a significant difference in the tongue gestures of typical and atypical children in the male gender. In females, there was less differentiation of the means of the tongue contours between the typical and atypical children. Conclusion: the group of atypical male children presented less ability to refine the tongue gestures when compared to the typical ones of the same gender.