Nonfluencies of preschool stutterers and conversational partners: observing reciprocal relationships

Speaking rate, conversational speech acts, interruption, and linguistic complexity of 20 pre-school stuttering and non-stuttering children and their mothers

This is the second in a series of reports concerning stuttering pre-school children enrolled in a longitudinal study; the first was Ryan (1992). Conversational samples of 20 stuttering and 20 non-stuttering pre-school children and their mothers were analysed for speaking rate, conversational speech acts, interruption, and linguistic complexity. Between-group analyses revealed few differences between either the two children or two mother groups. Within-group analyses indicated differences that involved conversational speech acts and linguistic complexity. Most stuttering occurred on statements (M = 32.3% stuttered) and questions (M = 20.9% stuttered). Stuttered and disfluent sentences had higher Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) (Lee, 1974) scores (M = 10.9, 12.9, respectively) than fluent sentences (M = 7.6). Multiple correlation analyses indicated that speaking rate of mothers (0.561) and normal disfluency of children (0.396) were major predictor variables.

Guidelines for documentation of treatment efficacy for young children who stutter

The pressing need to document treatment efficacy for young children who stutter is discussed. Guidelines for such documentation are suggested and illustrated. Measures for verifying treatment effects in four realms are delineated: (a) conditions of documentation, (b) dependent variables to be measured, (c) establishment of treatment integrity, and (d) verification of the relationship between treatment and outcome. Illustrations of the application of the suggested guidelines are presented for 2 children.

Genetics of stuttering: a critical review

The fact that stuttering runs in families has been documented over a long period and has led to speculations and research about the role of a genetic component to this disorder. Although the genetic factor cannot be proved by familial aggregation and twin studies alone, such research has continued to provide support for a relationship between stuttering and genetics. The purposes of this article are to review and critique the research in this area. The article first assesses research methodologies that have been employed in familial studies of stuttering. It proceeds to review and critique incidence, twin, and aggregation studies. In addition, it includes sections on subgroups, genetic models of stuttering, and implications for future research as well as for clinical work. With a focus on improved methodology and recent findings, a current perspective on our knowledge of the genetic component to stuttering is provided. Among other conclusions, the article emphasizes that failure to consider epidemiologic factors has probably biased previous results regarding the genetics of stuttering. New preliminary data also appear to provide evidence that spontaneous recovery and chronicity are influenced by genetic factors. Generally, however, the review of incidence and twin studies, as well as of evidence for the various inheritance models, confirms previous conclusions about the interaction between genetic and environmental factors in stuttering.

Parents' speech and children's stuttering: a critique of the literature

The role of parents in relation to their children's stuttering has been of great interest to speech-language pathologists for more than 50 years. As part of treatment, speech-language pathologists frequently advise parents to modify their speech behaviors when talking with their children. For example, parents are often told to speak more slowly and to refrain from interrupting or questioning the child excessively. Given the commonness of this advice, it is important to examine the research upon which it is based. This article contains a critical review of the literature concerning the role of parents' speech behaviors (e.g., rate, interruptions, question-asking) in relation to their children's stuttering. Published studies are reported and analyzed in order to determine the extent to which parents may affect their children's stuttering through their own speech behaviors. The review indicates that there is little convincing evidence to support the view that parents of children who stutter differ from parents of children who do not stutter in the way they talk with their children. Similarly, there is little objective support for the argument that parents' speech behaviors contribute to children's stuttering or that modifying parents' speech behaviors facilitates children's fluency. Implications for treatment and for future research are discussed.

Parents as partners: including mothers and fathers in the treatment of children who stutter

Parents are frequently included in our intervention methods with children who stutter. However, if we examine the research and clinical literature, we find that we do not distinguish between the roles of mothers and fathers in our diagnosis and intervention procedures. Evidence that mothers and fathers may differ in their interactions with children, in general, and children who stutter, in particular, will be presented. Implications of these findings for our clinical practices will be discussed. By doing so, a case will be made for including both mothers and fathers as partners in the treatment of children who stutter.

Speech rates and turn-taking behaviors of children who stutter and their fathers

Paralinguistic behaviors, including speech rates and turn-taking behaviors, of boys who stutter and boys who do not stutter and their fathers were investigated. Subjects were 11 boys who stutter (mean age = 5:1) and their fathers and 11 age-matched (+/- 3 months) nonstuttering boys (mean age = 5:1) and their fathers. Spontaneous conversational speech was obtained from each father and son during approximately 45 minutes of videotaped free play in a clinic setting. Measures of overall, articulatory, and dyadic speaking rates, interruptions, response time latencies, and disfluency characteristics were derived using the videotapes and computer-assisted analyses of the acoustic signal from each conversational sample. Two-factor repeated measures ANOVAs were performed on each of the paralinguistic variables for the 11 sets of age-matched father-son pairs. Fathers produced faster speaking rates, higher frequencies of interruptions and shorter response time latencies than sons. No significant differences were found in comparisons of the two groups of fathers or of the two groups of children for any of the paralinguistic behaviors. A significant positive correlation was found between the SSI scores of children who stutter and the dyadic speaking rates of these children and their fathers. Results partially extend those of Kelly and Conture (1992) for mothers and children, but some potentially important differences emerge between fathers' and mothers' (para)linguistic behaviors in interaction with their children.