Our Faculty

Allan B. Smith, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
(207) 581-2036
allan.b.smith@umit.maine.edu

Allan B. Smith is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Dr. Smith's research focuses on acoustic measurement of speech in children. In particular, he studies the timing of brief speech events such as syllables, words, and pauses in order to better understand typical and atypical speech development. Recent projects include a study of word duration in children with delayed speech, and a series of studies examining early speech timing in toddlers who were later identified as reading disabled. The goal is to provide early indications of speech, language, and reading disorders, and a better understanding of how to remediate these problems. 

Education
Ph.D. 2002  University of Connecticut (Communication Science)
M.S.  1996  Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions (Speech-Language Pathology)

Courses
CSD 130  Introduction to Communication Sciences and Disorders
CSD 484  Introduction to Speech Science
CSD 490  Senior Capstone
CSD 601  Seminar in Research Methods

Association Memberships
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASHA Special Interest Division 5: Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders

Selected Publications and Presentations
Smith, A. B., Lambrecht Smith, S., Locke, J. L., & Bennett, J. (Accepted). A longitudinal study of speech timing in young children later found to have reading disability. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

Smith, A. B., Locke, J. L., & Farkas, L. (2008). Precursors of dyslexia in early conversational turn exchange. Topics in Language Disorders, 28, 5-14.

Smith, A. B., Roberts, J., Lambrecht Smith, S., Bennett, J. & Locke, J. L. (2006). Reduced speaking rate as an early predictor of reading disability. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 15, 289-297.

Smith, A. B., Farkas, L., & Locke, J. L. (2006, November). Turn exchange timing in toddlers later identified with dyslexia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Miami, FL.

Smith, A. B., Farkas, L., Lambrecht Smith, S., & Locke, J. L. (2006, November). Verbal response time in spontaneous speech of toddlers with dyslexia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Miami, FL.

Smith, A. B., & Robb, M. P. (2006). The influence of utterance position on children's production of lexical stress. Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica, 58, 199-206.

Lambrecht Smith, S., Roberts, J., Smith, A. B., & Locke, J. L. (2006, July). Speech gestures in dyslexic children: From babble to words. Paper presented at the International Conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, Vancouver, Canada.

Smith, A. B., & Robb, M. P. (2006, May). Phonetic and physiological factors affecting voicing onset and offset. Paper presented at the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference. Perth, Australia.

Smith, A. B., Bennett, J., Farkas, L., & Lambrecht Smith (2006, March). Current status of a series of studies on speech timing in toddlers at high risk for dyslexia. Paper presented at the Conference of the Maine Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Portland, ME.

Smith, A. B., & Robb, M. P. (2005). Durational characteristics of the first productions of trochaic and iambic novel words in children with speech delays. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 19, 1-14.

Smith, A. B. (2005, November). Dyslexia and early speaking rate development. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, San Diego, CA.

Higgins, K. & Smith A. B. (2005). The prevalence of voice disorders in university teaching faculty. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, San Diego, CA.

Hall, N. E., Lambrecht Smith, S., Smith A. B., & Walker, J. P. (2005, October). Explorations in research: Evidence-based practice and the clinician-researcher collaborative. Presentation at the fall meeting of the Maine Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Portland, Maine.

Smith, A. B., & Bennett, J. (2004, November). Speaking rate in toddlers later identified as having dyslexia. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Philadelphia, PA.

Smith, A. B., Bennett, J., & Lambrecht Smith (2004, November). Pauses in toddlers' speech and later dyslexia: A longitudinal analysis. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Philadelphia, PA.

Smith, A. B. (2003, November). Duration of novel words in children with phonological delay. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Chicago, IL.

Smith, A. B. (2002, November). The influence of utterance position on children's syllable stress production. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Atlanta, GA.

Robb, M. P., & Smith, A. B. (2002). Fundamental frequency onset and offset behavior: A comparative study of children and adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 45, 446-456. 

Smith, A. B. (2002). Acoustic characteristics of lexical stress in disyllabic words: A study of normally speaking and speech disordered children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Smith, A. B., & Grela, B. (2000, November). Verb use in children with Down syndrome. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Washington, DC.

Wolk, L., Blomgren, M., & Smith, A. B. (2000). The frequency of simultaneous disfluency and phonological errors in children: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 25, 269-281.

Smith, A. B., Selby, J., & Robb, M. (1999, November). Age-related changes in Fo during phonetically governed devoicing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, San Francisco, CA.

Condouris, K. C., & Smith, A. B. (1998). Comments on Dagenais, Cox, Southwood, and Smith. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 41, 859-860.

Smith, A. B. (1997). A 'cumulative' method of quantifying tonal consonance in musical key contexts. Music Perception, 15, 175-188.