Fluency Quiz

Core behaviors of stuttering

the basic manifestations of stuttering that are seemingly beyond voluntary control

• repetitions of sounds, syllables, words

• prolongations of single words

• blocks of airflow/voicing during speech

Secondary behaviors of stuttering

stuttering behaviors that develop over time as learned reactions to core behaviors as escape or avoidance. occur to break from stutter.

• eye blinks

• foot taps

• jaw tremors

• head nods

characteristics associated with a high probability of recovery

• 18 months to 3 years of age of onset

• no family history of stuttering or small number of affected relatives who recovered early in childhood

• female

• few to no associated behaviors

• no coexisting phonological or cognitive problems

fluency shaping

therapy technique based on the assumption that stuttering is a learned behavior. goal is to eliminate disfluencies and gradually change the speaker’s habitual speaking pattern to one of fluent speech

fluency shaping techniques

• easy onset - the speaker is taught to exhale slightly before beginning phonation and work way up to conversational loudness

• decreased speaking rate (prolonged speech) - speaker stretches out the sounds (vowels) to create a slower than normal speaking rate

• light articulatory contacts - the speaker is taught to move the articulators in a loose and relaxed manner

• continuous phonation - the speaker is trained to reduce all breaks between words by maintaining voicing continuously until he naturally needs to take a breath

delayed auditory feedback

the patient’s speech is recorded and played back to them with a few milliseconds delay

stuttering modification/management

therapy approach based on the assumption that stuttering may involve a physiological predisposition. the goal is to modify disfluent events by making them easier, eliminating struggle and avoidance behaviors. minimize client’s negative emotions around stuttering

developmental disfluencies versus stuttering

disfluencies are normal during development, but only become a problem when they are longer, labored/strained, more common, and have secondary behaviors