Florence L. Myers

Disfluencies in cluttered speech

UNLABELLED The purpose of this study was to examine the nature and frequency of occurrence of disfluencies, as they occur in singletons and in clusters, in the conversational speech of individuals who clutter compared to typical speakers. Except for two disfluency types (revisions in clusters, and word repetitions in clusters) nearly all disfluency types were virtually indistinguishable in frequency of occurrence between the two groups. These findings shed light on cluttering in several respects, foremost of which is that it provides documentation on the nature of disfluencies in cluttering. Findings also have implications for our understanding of the relationship between cluttering and typical speech, cluttering and stuttering, the Cluttering Spectrum Hypothesis, as well as the Lowest Common Denominator definition of cluttering. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES At the end of this activity the reader will be able to: (a) identify types of disfluency associated with cluttered speech; (b) contrast disfluencies in cluttered speech with those associated with stuttering; (c) compare the disfluencies of typical speakers with those of cluttering; (d) explain the perceptual nature of cluttering.

Stuttering attitudes in Hong Kong and adjacent Mainland China.

Abstract The present study aims at studying the public attitudes towards stuttering in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Translated Chinese versions of the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes–Stuttering (POSHA–S) were distributed to convenience samples in Hong Kong and Mainland China, with a total number of 175 completed questionnaires returned in each sampling region (n 5 350). Mean ratings of respondents from Hong Kong and Mainland China were similar in most comparisons; yet, a few differences were noted. Larger but idiosyncratic differences characterized the Chinese respondents compared to more than 4000 respondents from numerous countries and languages around the world in the POSHA–S database archive. Overall, they documented aspects of stereotypes and potential stigma with respect to people who stutter. While premature to provide unambiguous conclusions, results suggest that Chinese respondents have unique stuttering attitudes.

Clinical Management of Cluttering.

Cluttering is a fluency disorder that often coexists with stuttering but occasionally occurs in pure form. Individuals with cluttering typically manifest rapid or erratic speech rates, reduced inte...

Two youths who clutter, but is that the only similarity ?

Abstract This article describes the clinical profile of two youngsters who clutter. Although both subjects share key characteristics, they differ in other respects. As we gain more systematic information on the nature and symptomatology of cluttering, we may conclude that it is not a homogeneous but a heterogeneous phenomenon.

Cluttering: A matter of perspective

The evolution of a discipline such as speech-language pathology pivots around three points: theoretical underpinnings, research questions and methodologies, and clinical acumen. Moreover, the advancement of a given discipline rests on the extent to which these three elements are integrated. Cluttering, however, has attracted little interest in the United States until rather recent times, having experienced a long hiatus of relative neglect by speech-language pathologists. This hiatus was preceded by an initial spurt of clinical insights from phoniatrists and logopedists originally trained in Europe during the early decades of this century.

A review of linguistic factors associated with early childhood stuttering

This paper summarizes recent thinking on several aspects of early childhood stuttering. The concept of fluency is examined, and a review of research that traces the acquisition of fluency in young children and its relationship to language acquisition is presented. Other topics considered are the relationship of normal childhood nonfluencies to early stuttering, stuttering as it relates to language acquisition, and psycholinguistic influences on stuttering in young children.

Perception of stress contrasts in semantic and nonsemantic contexts by children

Using 140 subjects (20 children each from kindergarten through the sixth grade), this study followed the developmental trends of children on two tasks involving the perception of stress contrasts. Task I consisted of discriminating whether two syllables in bisyllabic nonsense words have the same or different stress patterns. Task II consisted of sentence pairs, for half of which the first sentence in each pair provided appropriate lexical as well as stress patterns for the second sentence. The first sentence in the remaining sentence pairs provided the appropriate lexical context but an inappropriate stress context for the second sentence. Subjects were to evaluate whether members of each sentence pair sound “good together” or “not good together.” Results yielded remarkable lawfulness in the developmental trends for both tasks, and were discussed in terms of childrens perception of stress contrasts in semantic vs. nonsemantic conditions.

Efficacy of delayed auditory feedback for treating cluttering: Two case studies

Abstract Two clutterers were treated with similar preplanned delayed auditory feedback (DAF) procedures, using probe samples in which the DAF was not present to measure treatment efficacy. Whereas both clients met established fluency criteria during treatment, both clutterers had difficulty transferring gains to probe sessions—one more than the other. Differences in results of DAF treatment are discussed from the perspectives of differences in cluttering severity, coexisting disorders, and supplementary clinical techniques.

Issues to consider in the differential diagnosis of normal childhood nonfluencies and stuttering

Abstract Historically more attention has been focused on the adult stutterer than on the young stutterer. This article discusses three key issues in the differential diagnosis of normal childhood nonfluencies and childhood stuttering. The three issues are (1) whether early childhood disfluencies are heterogeneous or homogeneous phenomena, (2) whether the relationship between normal childhood nonfluencies and early stuttering is continuous or dichotomous, and (3) whether normal nonfluencies and stuttering differ quantitatively or qualitatively. Theoretical research as well as clinical implications of these issues are discussed.

Toward an integrated approach to early childhood stuttering

Abstract This article proposes a model that integrates various factors influencing early childhood stuttering. The factors interact in a synergistic manner and can be subsumed under three macrofactors: physiological, psycholinguistic, and psychosocial. Such a model can be clinically applied toward an integrated approach to the assessment and treatment of the young stutterer.