Talented Scientist AWARD for PGI Medico

Dr. Dharam Vir, Faculty Speech and Hearing, Dept. of ENT, PGIMER, Chandigarh has been awarded Talented Scientist AWARD for his contribution to Alternative Medicine on the occasion of XXVI NATIONAL MEDICOS CONGRESS organized by five Associations i.e. AIMS, ISDIAM, RSM, FIMSA and AIAMPA at Hoshiarpur on 2^ndDec. 2012 .The award was given by Mr.Ashwani Rai Khanna former MP and Dr. D.B. Kapur, Chairman, AIMS for contributing a tool to assess the prevalence of articulation errors/defects in the Panjabi speaking children and adult population. The tool was developed by Dr.Dharam Vir under the guidance of Prof.A.K.Gupta, Prof.Naresh Panda, Department of Otolaryngology, PGIMER; Prof.Joga Singh (Punjabi University); Prof.A.N.Gill (Panjab University) and Dr.Harmesh Kumar.

Details of Punjabi Articulation Test (PAT)

‘Speech’ is the auditory-vocal form of expressing and comprehending languages. A person with an articulation problem is the one whose production of speech sound varies too widely from the average values. This variation interferes with communication.

Punjabi, a member of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family, is spoken as the first language primarily in the state of Punjabin India and the province of similar name in Pakistan. Around the globe, Punjabi is spoken by more than 80 million people. Need was felt to develop a specific tool to assess the prevalence of articulation errors/defects in the Panjabi speaking children and adult population. The tool thus developed is known as Punjabi Articulation Test (PAT). No such test was available for Punjabi Language prior to it.

The study made to develop the test examined the articulation errors of consonants on normal pediatrics population of Punjabi speaking children between the age ranges of 8 and 10 years. The present study examined the