Continuation. See beginning in issues 22, 23, 24 (2005), 1, 2 (2006)
 There a lots of speech irregularities. Stuttering, the correction of which we discussed in 5 previous issues is only one of them. Another, as wide-spread as stuttering is dysarthria or, inarticulate speech. On behalf of our readers, who sent many letters to the editors with questions about the new methods of such irregularities, our correspondent continues talking with Dr.Andrey Bludov, Director of RC of Biocybernatics.
Dr.Bludov, what is the speech disorder called dysarthria?
The word "dysarthria" has a Greek origin: the prefix "dys" means disorder, "arthroo" translates as "I articulate". A person pronounces his words unclearly although the overall meaning of his words does not change. Dysarthria is a wide concept. It can occur as during minor disorders in the work of motor speech centers ( “obliterated" forms), as during apparent incapacity of the speech organs, as a result of an illness orthe  brain trauma.
During which diseases can it be best observed?
It is most clearly can be seen in infantile cerebral paralysis. In practice, the most wide-spread forms of dysarthria are obliterated forms with unclearly expressed clinical symptoms. There are difficulties in the tongue movements. It becomes very tense; the pronunciation is smeared and vague. The pronunciation of all groups of sounds gets broken, as well speech tempo and rhythm. There are 3 types of dysarthria according to the degree of speech understanding by others. The 1st type is when the speech disorders can only by heard by the specialist; the 2nd – when the speech is fairly understandable but at the same time others can notice disorders in pronunciation; the 3rd one is when the speech is understood only by family and only to the slightest extent by others.  
What are the peculiarities of correction of disorders like that?
It takes a lot of efforts to eliminate this symptom.  The sooner the treatment begins the better. Besides, it is necessary to adopt a complex approach. This approach combines different kinds of therapeutic effects: medical means that influence CNS, physiotherapy, sports,  acupuncture, tonic therapy and, of course,  Logopaedia.  
All types of therapy that you have listed, are carried out by specialists. What about parents, can they do somehow help their child?
In all kinds of dysarthria treatments parents play a huge role. Primarily it is applied to Logopedic exercises. Parents should realize the ultimate goal of any exercise and preview the expected results. The Logopedic work is very labor-consuming and multifaceted. It requires systematic classes with the specialists and home-based exercises with the parents.
Please tell us about the new methods of correction of dysarthria, which are carried out in your Center.
Among other disorders, we are engaged in speech modification. By means of the software filters the speech gets improved, the signs of dysarthria and spasms (uneven speech intensity, speech gaps, uneven tempo and other defects) are removed by the software in the real time. The person is put in the conditions in which he is compelled to speak more clearly and more smoothly; the correct breathing is automatically set. Nevertheless, we are fully aware that there are no two identical expressions of dysarthria, that everyone is individual, and that the effectiveness of treatment can be verified only practice.
How to make sure that the method you’re speaking about is suitable for a particular person?
Realizing the complexity of the problem of dysarthria, especially in infantile cerebral paralysis, we try and do our best to help the patient. There is a free of charge software and its description on our web site that can be obtained by any person who has dysarthria and is interested in its treatment. Any person can install this software on a home computer, and work with it, first simply reading the text. And the more difficult is the text the better.
Then the trainee learns how to communicate with friends, relatives, strangers, personally as well as by the phone. In the vast majority of cases our free program brings obvious benefits: the spasms decrease, the speech becomes clearer. We would like to share our achievements and make them available for everyone.
Continuation of the topic see in our next issue.
Peter SINKOVSKY