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The standard of evaluation is the concept of a normal speaker’s performance in average situation of everyday living. It is assumed in this context that an average speaker usually can perform as. follows:
(1) Talk in a loud voice when the occasion demands it.
(2) Sustain phonation for at least 10 seconds in one breath.
(3) Complete at least a 10 word sentence in one breath.
(4) Form all of the phonetic units of American speech, and join them together intelligibly.
(5) Maintain a rate of at least 75 to 100 words per minute, and sustain a flow of speech for a reasonable length of time.
Specific Procedures
a. Place the patient approximately 8 feet from the examiner.
b. Interview the patient. This will permit observation of the patient’s speech in ordinary conversation while obtaining information pertinent to his or her history.
c. Listen to the patient’s speech as the patient reads aloud the short paragraph, “The Smith House.” For this exercise, seat the patient with the back towards the physician; maintaining a separation of 8 feet. Instruct the patient as follows: “You are to read this passage so that I can hear you plainly. Be sure to speak so that I can understand you”.
d. If additional reading procedures are required, simple prose paragraphs from a magazine may be used. A nonreader may be requested to give name, address, the days of the week, the months of the year, etc. Additional evidence regarding the patient’s rate of speech and ability to sustain it may be obtained by noting the time required to count to 100 by ones. Completion of the latter task in 60 to 75 seconds is accepted as normal.
e. Record judgment of the patient’s speech capacity with regard to each of the three sections of the Speech Classification Chart.
f. The degree of impairment of the speech function is equivalent to the greatest percentage of impairment recorded in any one of the three sections of the classification chart.
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