Remediation of intonation contours of hearing-impaired students.

Incorrect production of intonation contours is a common phonatory problem among the hearing impaired. Programs designed to remediate this problem include those that employ a systematic sequence of training steps as well as those that use sensory aids to provide visual or tactile feedback of contour production. A speech-training program that incorporates both is described. The program utilizes a hierarchical curriculum with either a tactile or a visual display of fundamental frequency for the remediation of incorrectly produced intonation contours. The displays are interfaced with a microprocessor, thus allowing regular collection of data and monitoring of the program's effectiveness. Three case studies are presented as representative examples of the students' progress. Implementation of the systematic curriculum with the use of the sensory aids results in improved performance in the phonatory skills of these students. The successes and difficulties encountered in speech training are discussed.