Abstract
The process of speech acquisition of a speechless child was observed.
The child was two year and eight month old boy who had been speechless, except for snatcy utterances in inhaling breath. There was no problem in understanding, intelligence, and the over-all behavior.
Speech therapy to the child and educational guidance to the child's mother were given once a week for ten months. In direct speech therapy, to improve speech breathing pattern, blowing, C.S.S., and gargling exercises were introduced, and to elicit articulation, “onomatopoeis”was utilized. Indirectly, the mother was instructed to do homeworks with the child everyday, and to establish a desirable environment for the child.
After improvement of speech breathing pattern, the child acquired speech sounds rapidly. The order of acquisition was almost the same as that of normal children.
The child's utterance pattern was analyzed by soundspectrograph. It proved that the child's utterance pattern was similar to one of the patterns in babbling.
It is considered that the child's abnormal speech breathing pattern had worked as an inhibitor, and when it was removed, the child started to move on to the normal speech development.
