Stuttering Analysis Notes

Week Four Quiz Review

• Average quiz score: 88%.
• Review classical and operant conditioning and learning/unlearning concepts.
• Office hours:
  • Thursdays: By appointment.
  • Tuesdays: Drop-in hours.

Typical Disfluencies vs. Stuttering Development

Normal/Typical Disfluencies

• Ages: Typically seen in children 1.5 - 6 years old.
• Core behaviors:
  • Part-word repetitions.
  • Single-syllable word repetitions.
  • Multi-syllabic word repetitions.
  • Phrase repetitions.
• Normal range: 10 or fewer disfluencies per 100 words.
• Repetitions: One-unit repetitions are more common than two-unit repetitions.
• Feelings and attitudes: Generally unaware; absence of negative feelings.
• One-unit repetitions: More common in younger children.
• Revisions/Incomplete phrases: More common in older children.

Borderline Stuttering

• Ages: Generally presents between 2-3.5 years old.
• Core behaviors: Same as typical disfluencies but differentiated by frequency and type.
  • Within-word disfluencies.
  • Stuttering-like disfluencies.
  • Dysrhythmic phonation.
• Frequency: Greater than 10 disfluencies per 100 words.
• Secondary behaviors: Very few.
  • Possible tension in the face.
• Feelings and attitudes: Little awareness, possible frustration or surprise when stuck.
• Characteristics:
  • Syllable repetitions.
  • Word repetitions.
  • Broken words.
  • Prolongations.

Beginning Stuttering

• Population: Older preschool children.
• Core behaviors: Same as borderline stuttering, but repetitions are tense, rapid, and irregular.
  • Abrupt, repeated syllables.
  • Vowel (schwa) cut off (e.g., "la-la-like" vs. "la-la-la-like").
  • Tension in speech mechanism.
  • Prolongations.
  • Blocks replacing repetitions and prolongations.
• Secondary behaviors:
  • Eye blinks.
  • Eye squeezing.
  • Escape behaviors (nods, squints).
• Escape behaviors: Used to push words out.
• Feelings and attitudes:
  • Awareness and frustration.
  • Doesn't consider themselves a defective speaker.
• Underlying processes:
  • Increased muscle tension and tempo.
  • Irregular repetitive syllables.
  • Rapidly spoken syllables compared to fluent syllables.
  • Conditioning: Behaviors influenced by classical and operant conditioning based on responses from family members, parents, etc.

Intermediate Stuttering

• Ages: Generally 6-13 years old (possible overlaps).
• Core behaviors:
  • Repetitions and prolongations with pitch rise.
  • Increasing tension.
  • Atypical, strained sound.
• Secondary behaviors:
  • More frequent escape behaviors.
  • Complex behaviors (hard eye blinks, extremity movements).
  • Avoidance techniques (starter substitution, circumlocutions, postponements, antiexpectancy devices).
• Feelings and attitudes:
  • Embarrassment, fear of speaking/stuttering, helplessness, shame.
  • Increases with cognitive maturity.
• Cycle of threat: Fear & tension -> longer, struggled blocks -> more fear (operant conditioning).

Advanced Stuttering

• Population: Older teens and adults.
• Core behaviors:
  • Repetitions, prolongations, tension-filled blocks.
  • Tremors of lips, jaw, or tongue (with strong emotion).
  • Covert stuttering.
• Covert stuttering: severe disfluencies that are able to mask those stutters.
• Secondary behaviors:
  • Word and situational avoidances (similar to intermediate stuttering).
• Feelings and attitudes: Shaped by years of conditioning.

Stuttering-Like Disfluencies

• Part-word repetitions (e.g., "ba-baby").
• Monosyllabic whole-word repetitions (e.g., "I-I-I like").
• Prolongations (e.g., "Llllllet's go").
• Tense pause (e.g. "I want (pause) milk."

Not Stuttering-Like Disfluencies

• Interjections.
• Phrase repetitions.
• Multi-syllabic repetitions.
• Substitutions.
• Physical competence.

Lab Instructions

• Group lab: Analyze a video as a group.
• Take notes: Focus on perceptual analysis.
• Establish the client's level based on evidence from the video and professional articles.
• Write-up: APA formatting required.