Anita van der MerweUniversity of Pretoria | UP · Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Anita van der Merwe
PhD Speech Pathology
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55
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Introduction
Anita van der Merwe is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria. Anita does research in Neurolinguistics and Psycholinguistics. Their current project is 'Motor speech disorders with a specific focus on apraxia of speech - its nature and treatment'. Current research also focuses on the idiosyncratic sound systems of African Bantu languages and how these impact speech production in motor speech and voice disorders.
Additional affiliations
June 1975 - January 2015
January 1976 - December 2015
Publications
Publications (55)
Van der Merwe A. & Steyn M. (2020). Production of click sounds in acquired apraxia of speech: A view to the motoric nature of the disorder. In Sands B. (Ed) Click Consonants. BRILL Publishers: Leiden, The Netherlands. Pp. 356-383. Abstract Background. Current characterization of the salient features of apraxia of speech (AOS) is
Background: The complexity of speech motor control, and the incomplete conceptualisation of phases in the transformation of the speech code from linguistic symbols to a code amenable to a motor system, tend to obscure the understanding of acquired apraxia of speech (AOS). The four-level framework (FLF) of speech sensorimotor control suggests the di...
Purpose: The aim was to determine if the presence of a voice disorder in speakers of Setswana, an African tone language, will negatively impact the accuracy of identification by typical first language judges of words belonging to tonal minimal pairs.
Method: A quasi-experimental between-group comparison and individual case studies were conducted. F...
This study reports on the development of a Setswana tonal minimal pair word list, which could be implemented as research tool in the field of Bantu language linguistics and in speech pathology in South Africa. The development of the list was conducted in four phases. These are described as four separate studies. All involved Setswana L1 participant...
Purpose:
The aim of the study was to propose the speech motor learning approach (Van der Merwe, 2011) as a treatment for childhood apraxia of speech and to determine if it will effect positive change in the ability of a 33-month-old child to produce untreated nonwords and words containing treated age-appropriate consonants (Set 1 sounds), untreate...
Background and objective
Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience difficulty with expressive language, including form (e.g. grammatical construction) and content (e.g. coherence). The current study aimed to investigate the effect of methylphenidate-Osmotic Release Oral System® (MPH-OROS®) on the narrative ability of...
The aim of this study is contribute to clinical practice of bilinguals around the globe, as well as to add to our understanding of bilingual aphasia processing, by analysing confrontation naming data from four Afrikaans/English bilingual individuals with acquired aphasia due to a left hemisphere stroke.
This is a case series analysis of four Afrika...
As a professional voice user, it is imperative that a speech-language pathologist's(SLP) vocal effectiveness remain consistent throughout the day. Many factors may contribute to reduced vocal effectiveness, including prolonged voice use, vocally abusive behaviours,poor vocal hygiene and environmental factors.
To determine the effect of service deli...
The objective of this article is to create awareness amongst speech-language pathologists and audiologists in South Africa regarding the difference between the sound systems of Germanic languages and the sound systems of South African Bantu languages. A brief overview of the sound systems of two Bantu languages, namely isiZulu and Setswana, is prov...
The objective of this article is to create awareness amongst speech-language pathologists and audiologists in South Africa regarding the difference between the sound systems of Germanic languages and the sound systems of South African Bantu languages. A brief overview of the sound systems of two Bantu languages, namely isiZulu and Setswana, is prov...
Background: In this paper the rationale for a treatment of apraxia of speech, the speech motor learning (SML) approach, is described and the effects of its application explored. The SML approach endeavours to address the underlying inability to plan and program the production of different speech motor targets (SMTs) in changing phonetic contexts an...
Background: In this paper the rationale for a treatment of apraxia of speech, the speech
motor learning (SML) approach, is described and the effects of its application explored.
The SML approach endeavours to address the underlying inability to plan and program
the production of different speech motor targets (SMTs) in changing phonetic contexts
an...
The scarcity of developmental voice onset time (VOT) data for pre-school children of different languages, limits deductions regarding the influence of linguistic and age factors on VOT. Expanded developmental VOT-data are of diagnostic value in comparing normal and disordered speech and language in various populations. The purpose of this study was...
This study investigated development of speech sounds and syllable structure of words in 18 Zulu-speaking children between the ages of 3.0 and 6.2. A 100-word spontaneous conversational sample was elicited from each subject. All samples were transcribed phonetically by a stringent transcription procedure. The UNIBET was used to code the transcriptio...
Background: The four‐level framework of speech production (Van der Merwe, 199741.
Van der Merwe , A. 1997. “A theoretical framework for the characterization of pathologic speech sensorimotor control.”. In Clinical management of sensorimotor speech disorders, Edited by:
McNeil , M. R . 1–25. New York: Thieme. (1st ed.) View all references) suggest...
Background: Overt attempts at self‐correction of speech errors reflect conscious monitoring of speech output. The ability to monitor speech reveals something about the dynamics of motor control. Speakers with apraxia of speech (AOS) attempt to self‐correct speech, but systematic analyses of self‐correction in AOS have rarely been done.Aims: The aim...
The article explores the quality of life of two participants who had undergone total glosso-laryngectomy as treatment for advanced tongue base cancer. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and questions relating to the effects of treatment on physical, functional, social and psychological well-being were asked. Thematic analysis of the intervie...
The Four-Level Framework of speech sensorimotor control (Van der Merwe, 1997) complicates the traditional view of dysarthria as a purely motor execution disorder. According to this framework, hypokinetic, hyperkinetic and ataxic dysarthria are programming-execution dysarthrias, while flaccid dysarthria is the only execution dysarthria. This prelimi...
Advanced tongue cancer may have a devastating effect on a person’s ability to speak and to swallow. Very little is known about the surgical management and speech and swallowing rehabilitation of persons with advanced tongue cancer in South Africa.
Opsomming
Gevorderde tongkanker het ‘n geweldige impak op ‘n persoon se vermoë om te praat en te slu...
The purpose of this article is to describe a structured behavior modification approach to the reduction of voice use by clients with voice disorders. The Voice Use Reduction (VUR) Program is conceptualized as part of a comprehensive approach to the treatment of voice. The VUR Program provides guidelines for the classification of voice use situation...
People who use their voices in their daily profession sometimes tend to suffer vocal abuse and fatigue.
Opsomming
Persone wat hulle stemme in die uitoefen van hulle beroep gebruik, is soms geneig tot stemmisbruik en stemuitputting.
*Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.
Speech production in a second (or third) language in the case of late bilingualism (or multilingualism) is probably motorically more complex than in the first language and greater demands are placed on the speech sensorimotor control system. In the case of defective speech motor planning due to brain damage, this will be particularly true, but to d...
The aim of this study was to develop the "Sepedi-toets vir Spraakverstaanbaarheid" to objectively evaluate the speech intelligibility of the client and to give appropriate phonetic information. This study evolved from the present need for evaluation mechanisms and therapeutic services in the indigenous African languages. The words used in the test...
The aim of this study was to develop the "Sepedi-toets vir Spraakverstaanbaarheid" to objectively evaluate the speech intelligibility of the client and to give appropriate phonetic information. This study evolved from the present need for evaluation mechanisms and therapeutic services in the indigenous African languages. The words used in the test...
In this study, the speech of a 28-year-old male with acquired brain injury and who presents with an undefined neuromotor speech disorder which cannot be categorised as either apraxia of speech or dysarthria, is described. Voice onset time, vowel duration, utterance duration and vowel formant analyses were done acoustically. A perceptual analysis an...
Primere voorkoming van kommunikasieafwykings word toenemend 'n belangrike beroepsfunksie van die spraak-taalterapeut. Funksionele stemhiperfunksie wat dikwels voorkom by professionele stemgebruikers kan voorkom word. In hierdie artikel word gesamentlik verslag gedoen oor drie onafhanklike ondersoeke na stemprobleme by drie groepe professionele stem...
The primary prevention of communication problems is a growing part of the professional responsibility of the speech-language therapist. Functional voice hyperfunction, which often occurs in professional users of voice, can be prevented. In this article three separate studies on voice problems of people in three different professions are reported. T...
Die verskynsel van antisiperende labiale koartikulasie word bestudeer om inligting te bekom aangaande die motoriese beplanning van spraak deur die brein. Die doel van die studie is om inligting te bekom in verband met die temporale omvang van antisiperende labiale koartikulasie, die verloop van koartikulasie vir uitinge wat bestaan mt twee geronde...
Spraakklankdistorsie word algemeen in die literatuur beskryf as 'n kenmerk van neuromotoriese spraakafwykings soos serebellere disartrie en verbale apraksie. Die doel van die studie is 'n vergelykende ondersoek na die temporale en ruimtelike aspekte van spraakklankdistorsie by twee persone met verworwe serebellere disartrie en een persoon met verwo...
'n Omvattende stemevaluasie behels meer as net die evaluasie van perseptuele en organiese aspekte. Vir 'n volledige stemevaluasie is dit belangrik dat verskeie objektiewe metings die diagnostiese battery aanvul. Ten einde normatiewe riglyne vir sekere kwantitatiewe elektro-glottografiese metings vir die Universiteit van Pretoria se Spraaknavorsings...
Die leemte wat bestaan ten opsigte van die instrumentele ondersoek van Afrikaanse klanke word in hierdie artikel aan-gespreek. Die doel van die ondersoek is die identifikasie van tipiese formantfrekwensies en formantverhoudings van agt Afrikaanse vokale soos geproduseer deur manlike sprekers. Die analises is uitgevoer met die Kay digitale seinpro-s...
Gegewens oor die individuele simptome van persone met verworwe verbale apraksie en verbale ontwikkelingsapraksie is van teoretiese belang vir die studie van verbale apraksie. Deur die vergelyking van individuele simptome kan liggewerp word op simptoombeelde of tipes verbale apraksie en op die aard van die afwyking by verworwe verbale apraksie en ve...
Data on the individual symptoms of patients with acquired apraxia of speech and developmental apraxia of speech is of theoretical significance in the study of this disorder. A comparison of individual symptoms may shed light on error patterns in apraxia of speech, the possibility of types of apraxia of speech and on the nature of the disorder. In t...
Die slukprobleme van serebraal gestremde kinders word klinies aan die hand van subjektiewe kriteria omskryf Weinig navorsing is nog uitgevoer om die aard van hierdie probleme objektief en wetenskaplik te beskryf. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die slukpatrone van twee ouderdomsgroepe serebraal gestremde kinders deur middel van videofluorografie...
Die konsep van konteks-sensitiwiteit soos ontleen aan die koalisiemodel hou groot moontlikhede in vir die interpretasie van verbaal apraktiese simptome en vir 'n beter begrip van die aard van die afwyking. In hierdie ondersoek wat deel uitmaak van die groter ondersoek waarin die effek van variasie in kontekstuele faktore op verbaal apraktiese spraa...
The swallowing problems of cerebral palsied children are clinically evaluated by means of subjective criteria. Little research has been done to analyse these problems objectively and scientifically. The aim of this study was to analyse the swallowing patterns of cerebral palsied children in two age groups by means of videofluorography. Ten cerebral...
The concept of context sensitivity as borrowed from the coalition model has important implications for the interpretation of the symptoms of apraxia of speech and for a better understanding of the nature of the disorder. In this study which was part of the wider investigation into the effect of variation in contextual factors on apraxia of speech (...
Baie vrae bestaan nog oor die aard en oorsake van die simptome van verbale apraksie. Tydens 'n ondersoek na die invloed van kontekstuele faktore op die ouditief waarneembare foute by verbale apraksie (Van der Merwe, Uys, Loots en Grimbeek, 1987) is simptome wat aanduidings verskaf van die aard van die afwyking waargeneem. Hierdie simptome word verd...
Die doel van die studie was om die aard en prevalensie van middeloordisfunksie by graad I stedelike Swart kinders te bepaal. 146 kinders uit 'n primere skool het 'n oor-, neus- en keelondersoek, suiwertoon- en immittansiemetings ondergaan. 92,8% van die ore was beide otologies en oudiologies normaal. Die prevalensie van middeloorpatologie was 7,2%....
There is a lack of clarity in the literature regarding the manifestation of the structural changes due to aging in the middle ear and the pathology which occurs in the elderly. In order to determine the incidence and manifestation of middle ear problems in an elderly group, acoustic immittance measurements and otoscopy were carried out on 94 subjec...
Die rol van kontekstuele faktore by verbale apraksie is belangrik omdat dit implikasies inhou vir die interpretasie van simptome, die aard van die afwyking en vir verdere navorsing. Die invloed van die kontekstuele faktore, klankstruktuur en artikulasie-eienskappe op die ouditief waarneembare simptome van vier persone met verworwe verbale apraksie...
Die aard van die neuromotoriese disfunksie wat in verbale apraksie en verworwe disartrie voorkom word tans in diepte ontleed. 'n Belangrike vraag wat beantwoord moet word, is wat die verskil tussen hierdie twee tipes spraakprobleme is. In hierdie studie word die fonetiese parameter, stemaanvangstyd (SAT) ondersoek. Die doel is om te bepaal of kenme...
Die konvensionele benadering tot verworwe disartrie soos dit gevind word in die literatuur word kortliks bespreek. Die noodsaaklikheid vir 'n gewysigde benadering wat praktiese leidrade aan die spraakterapeut sal verskaf, word beklemtoon. Die opkoms van die neuroevolusioner-gefundeerde benadering tot serebrale verlamming, met ander woorde, tot kong...
