The present study examined listeners' identification and rating of words in passages as stuttered when the duration and frequency of occurrence of sound prolongations were manipulated. Thirty-six participants listened to a 219-word passage containing voiceless fricatives digitally increased from their normal durations to 200, 300, and 420 ms.…

Purpose: This study examined the effect of speech rate on phonated intervals (PIs), in order to test whether a reduction in the frequency of short PIs is an important part of the fluency-inducing mechanism of chorus reading. The influence of speech rate on stuttering frequency, speaker-judged speech effort, and listener-judged naturalness was also…

In this prospective study, data on incidence, stuttering characteristics, co-occurring speech disorders, and recovery of neurogenic stuttering in a large sample of stroke participants were assessed. Following stroke onset, 17 of 319 participants (5.3%; 95% CI, 3.2-8.3) met the criteria for neurogenic stuttering. Stuttering persisted in at least…

This study investigated the effect of auditory feedback alterations on stuttering frequency of 10 adults. At high speech rates, stuttering frequency was significantly reduced under delayed auditory feedback, frequency altered feedback, and a combination. There were no significant differences among the altered feedback conditions. (Author/SW)

Knowledge of variables that predict treatment time is of benefit in deciding when to start treatment for early stuttering. To date, the only variable clearly related to treatment time with the Lidcombe Program is pre-treatment stuttering frequency. Previous studies have shown that children whose stuttering is more severe take longer to complete…

Features of beginning stuttering in young children are reviewed. Attention is directed to studies of: frequency, type, and duration of disfluency, including number of repeated units and additional temporal aspects of instances of sound, syllable, and whole-word repetition; and associated speech and nonspeech behaviors produced by children who…

Speech and hearing screening conducted with 136 penitentiary inmates revealed normal prevalence figures for articulation and fluency disorders but appreciably higher prevalence for voice and hearing disorders. Possible correlations with age levels 21-25 years and educational levels 0-6 years were noted. (Author/CL)

A survey of 1,184 speech language pathologists found that of 2,628 children (grades 1-12) who stuttered, 62.6% had other concurring speech disorders, language disorders, or non-speech-language disorders. Articulation disorders (33.5%) and phonology disorders (12.7%) were the most frequently reported. Males were more likely to exhibit co-occurring…

A study tested the differences between eight children (ages 6 through 11) who stutter and typical children on measures of narrative complexity and cohesion use in two narrative tasks and in stuttering frequency produced across tasks. No significant differences were found on measures of narrative complexity or cohesion use. (Author/CR)

A questionnaire given to 1,879 Bogota (Colombia) university students found a prevalence of 2% in self-reported stuttering. Results also indicated that the prevalence of minor brain injury or dysfunction, developmental dyslexia history, word-finding difficulties, and depressive symptoms were higher among the stutterers than the nonstutterers. (DB)