Faculty Research Grant 2022-2023

Marileda Tome and Heather Ferguson (Communication Sciences & Disorders).

Lingual Frenulum characteristics in School-Aged Children with Speech Sound Disorder.

There is a lot of controversy around the topic of lingual frenulum configurations and its impacts on speech disorders. Some believe that there is no significant correlation between the two and others believe that they do significantly impact each other. “The lingual frenulum is a fold of mucous membrane found underneath the tongue. Most of the time, it extends from the midline of the ventral surface of the tongue to the floor of the mouth but not reaching the tongue tip” (O’Shea et al, 2017). It helps the tongue to move and perform its functions in swallowing, feeding, and speech. Unfortunately, there are few studies on speech disorders that look at the effects of a lingual frenulum restriction, what is known as “ankyloglossia” or “tongue tie”. Studies were done typically on a small sample size with low validity and reliability. Even though many studies do not have very significant results, they present issues that support the theory that a lingual frenulum restriction does impact speech disorders. The purpose of this study is identifying the lingual frenulum characteristics in school-aged children with Speech Sound Disorder (SSD) to associate the different frenulum configurations to the articulation problem the child is presenting. A lingual frenulum protocol with scores (Marchesan, 2012) will be applied to school-aged students who are receiving SLP services because of speech sound disorders. The results of this study may allow speech-language pathologists to have a better understanding of the issue of lingual frenulum configuration and the role it plays in speech sound disorders in children. This may also help professionals develop the appropriate treatment protocols through more accurate and precise clinical decision-making. As students get older, speech sound disorders and the need to attend speech therapy become more stigmatizing. Understand the role that factors as lingual frenulum restriction plays on SSD may help to refer to surgical release the cases with structure restriction of tongue movement and function. Early intervention can have positive social impacts.