The first two articles in this SIG 19 activity provide information to better our assessment and treatment of individuals in the area of voice, while the latter two articles focus on treatment of individuals in the area of speech production. The authors for all four articles present a review of the literature as well as challenges and future directions. First, Van Hook and Duffy conducted a pilot study to trial the Gender Spectrum Voice Inventory. This article provides a review, discussion of validity, and speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of the inventory in an effort to address a gap in available clinical tools for transgender and nonbinary people. Next, Hammer reviews the relationship between air flow with sound pressure level during syllable production while holding fundamental frequency and subglottic air pressure constant. The results have clinical implications that stress the importance of an increase in air flow and focus on vocal fold contact. Then, Gritsyk et al. describe their study to determine which measures of somatosensory acuity best predicted change in production accuracy during vowel learning tasks while controlling auditory acuity. Results indicate only bite block adaptation with auditory masking was significantly associated with performance. Finally, Zajac et al. discuss their preliminary study that indicated cleft type contributes to production errors, specifically backing, in children with repaired cleft palate. Additionally, a history of otitis media affects the spectral contrast of alveolar consonants in children without clefts.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• list components of a gender-affirming voice evaluation and explain the rationale for including each component
• describe how changes in air flow affect sound pressure level, supraglottic activity, and closed quotient
• indicate which somatosensory task was most strongly associated with speech learning performance in a sample of typical adults
• discuss various etiologies that may contribute to alveolar backing

Assessment Type
Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

Articles in This Course

1. Gender Spectrum Voice Inventory: A Pilot Study by Emily Van Hook and Sarah Duffy, published in SIG 19, Volume 6, Issue 6, December 17, 2021
2. Evaluating the Influence of Targeted Air Flow on Sound Pressure Level and Closed Quotient by Michael J. Hammer, published in SIG 19, Volume 6, Issue 4, August 20, 2021
3. Toward an Index of Oral Somatosensory Acuity: Comparison of Three Measures in Adults by Olesia Gritsyk, Heather Kabakoff, Joanne Jingwen Li, Samantha Ayala, Douglas M. Shiller, and Tara McAllister, published in SIG 19, Volume 6, Issue 2, April 28, 2021
4. Alveolar Backing in 3-Year-Old Children With and Without Repaired Cleft Palate: Preliminary Findings Related to Cleft Type and History of Otitis Media by David J. Zajac, Hannah Whitt, Adriane Baylis, Maura Tourian, and Katie Garcia, published in SIG 19, Volume 6, Issue 6, December 17, 2021