Steve Davis

Characteristics of Young Children Close to the Onset of Stuttering

Five factors (gender, handedness, some aspects of general health, family history, and intelligence) that could assist speech–language pathologists in identification of children who stutter (CWS) in 42 CWS and 34 fluent control children (children who do not stutter [CWNS]) were investigated. The data reported here were obtained from assessments made within 1 year of the reported onset of stuttering. The results from the initial assessments showed significant differences between CWS and CWNS on the five factors considered. Although there were some differences on intelligence scores, it is emphasized that the scores of all CWS were within normal limits, and in fact, both groups scored higher than the population average. These factors are important for the initial assessment of stuttering and may be useful for establishing what intervention is appropriate.

Comparing the performance of people who stutter and people who do not stutter on the Test of Everyday Attention

ABSTRACT Introduction: Compelling findings into the relationship between stuttering and attentional ability have started to emerge, with some child and adult studies indicating poorer attentional ability among people who stutter (PWS). The purpose of the present research was to provide a more complete picture of the attentional abilities of PWS, as well as to gather insights into their individual attentional performance. Method: We compared the attentional ability of PWS to that of people who do not stutter (PWNS) by using the Test of Everyday Attention (TEA). TEA is a clinical assessment battery with a very good validity and reliability comprising 8 subtests that pose differential demands on sustained attention, selective attention, attentional switching, and divided attention. Fifty age- and gender-matched PWS and PWNS (aged 19–77 years) took part in the study. Importantly, we also examined stuttering severity in the PWS group. Results: PWS performed significantly worse on tasks tapping into visual selective and divided attentional resources. Furthermore despite failing to reach statistical significance, the results also revealed an interesting trend for stuttering to be associated with poorer performance on two subtests measuring attentional switching and one tapping into auditory selective attention. Moreover, as hypothesized, there was also a negative association between stuttering severity and performance on two TEA subtests measuring visual selective attention. Finally, the type of TEA test variant produced no significant effect on performance. Conclusions: We interpret these results as indicative of stuttering being associated with poorer performance on tasks measuring certain attentional abilities. These tie in well with theoretical models identifying speech production as particularly attention-demanding in stuttering or approaches placing attentional dysfunction at the heart of the condition. The present research also has practical implications for the use of attentional training to improve fluency.

Attention levels in young children who stutter

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine whether children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS) differ in terms of attentional ability. Participants were 40 age- and gender-matched CWS and CWNS (aged between 72 and 120 months). Attentional ability was assessed using the Test of Everyday Attention for Children (TEA-Ch), a clinical assessment battery comprising 13 attentional measures, assessing three areas of attention: selective attention, sustained attention, and attentional switching. A low score on the assessment indicates attentional difficulty. There was an overall tendency for CWS to score lower than CWNS on all 13 TEA-Ch measures and all three attentional abilities. This difference reached statistical significance for the sustained attentional component. The present study provides support for the hypothesis that there are some differences between CWS and CWNS in terms of attentional ability. The findings are interpreted within existing models of attention with regard to previous studies of attention in CWS.