Stuttering Introduction

stutterer

person who stutters

dysfluency

Stutter

disfluency

nonfluency

fluency

continuity, smoothness, rate and effort in speech production

typical disfluencies/nonfluencies

hesitations, use of filler words, repetition of a word or phrase

stuttering

interruption in the flow of speaking that is characterized by specific dysfluencies

onset of stuttering

most likely to occur between the ages 2 to 4. can be gradual or sudden

prevalence of stuttering

around 1%

incidence of stuttering

5-15%

children male to female ratio of stuttering

1-2:1

adult male to female ratio of stuttering

3-5:1

5 phenomena in stuttering

spontaneous recovery, anticipation, consistency, adaptation, fluency-inducing/enhancing conditions

spontaneous recovery

occurs in about 80% of cases, children who stutter spontaneously stop

predictors of recovery

sex, family history, age at onset, duration since onset, language skills

anticipation

ability to predict occurence of stuttering

consistency

tendency to stutter on the same words during repeated readings of the same text

adaptation

decrease in stuttering frequency during repeated readings of the same text

fluency inducing/enhancing conditions

speaking - alone, at a reduced rate, rhythmically, to an animal or infant, in a different dialect, in unison/chorus reading, or singing, whispering and altered auditory feedback

altered auditory feedback

electronically altering the speech signal so speakers perceive their voice differently (delayed auditory feedback, frequency altered feedback)