Purpose: Recovery and relapse relating to stuttering are often defined in terms of the presence or absence of certain types of speech disfluencies as observed by clinicians and researchers. However, it is well documented that the experience of the overall stuttering condition involves more than just the production of stuttered speech disfluencies.…

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefit of devices delivering altered auditory feedback (AAF) as a therapeutic alternative for those who stutter. Aims: The effectiveness of a device delivering AAF (SpeechEasy®) was compared with behavioural techniques in the treatment of stuttering in a randomized clinical trial. Methods &…

Purpose: The present study examined whether engaging working memory in a secondary task benefits speech fluency. Effects of dual-task conditions on speech fluency, rate, and errors were examined with respect to predictions derived from three related theoretical accounts of disfluencies. Method: Nineteen adults who stutter and twenty adults who do…

Purpose: To relate changes in four variables previously defined as characteristic of normally fluent speech to changes in phonatory behavior during oral reading by persons who stutter (PWS) and normally fluent controls under multiple fluency-inducing (FI) conditions. Method: Twelve PWS and 12 controls each completed 4 ABA experiments. During A…

Background: Metronome-paced speech results in the elimination, or substantial reduction, of stuttering moments. The cause of fluency during this fluency-inducing condition is unknown. Several investigations have reported changes in speech pattern characteristics from a control condition to a metronome-paced speech condition, but failure to control…

Stuttering and autism can co-occur and when they do it presents a significant communication challenge. This study examined the effectiveness of a modified version of the fluency rules program (FRP; Runyan and Runyan, Stuttering and related disorders of fluency, in 2007) to reduce stuttering frequency in a man with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).…

Recent studies have implicated anatomical differences in speech-relevant brain regions of adults who stutter (AWS) compared to normally fluent adults (NFA). The present study focused on the region of the corpus callosum (CC) which is involved in interhemispheric processing between the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Two-dimensional…

Purpose: This study introduces a series of systematic investigations intended to clarify the parameters of the fluency-inducing conditions (FICs) in stuttering. Method: Participants included 11 adults, aged 20-63 years, with typical speech-production skills. A repeated measures design was used to examine the relationships between several speech…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether brain activity related to the presence of stuttering can be identified with rapid functional MRI (fMRI) sequences that involved overt and covert speech processing tasks. The long-term goal is to develop sensitive fMRI approaches with developmentally appropriate tasks to identify deviant speech…

Background: Previous studies have found simultaneous increases in skin conductance response and decreases in heart rate when normally fluent speakers watched and listened to stuttered speech compared with fluent speech, suggesting that stuttering induces arousal and emotional unpleasantness in listeners. However, physiological responses of persons…

Although persistent developmental stuttering is known to affect daily living, just how great the impact is remains unclear. Furthermore, little is known about the underlying mechanisms which lead to a diminished quality of life (QoL). The primary objective of this study is to explore to what extent QoL is impaired in adults who stutter (AWS). In…

Two studies compared the accuracy and efficiency of initiating oral reading of nonsense syllables by persons who stutter (PWS) and fluent speakers (PNS) over practise. Findings of Study One, comparing 12 PWS and 12 PNS, replicated previous findings of slow speech sequence initiation over practise by PWS relative to PNS. In Study Two, nine PWS and…

The study investigated the reaction times in the fluent speech utterances of 20 adult stutterers and 20 nonstutterers. Results indicated that reaction times for longer utterances and for utterances requiring minimal preparation were longer for stutterers than for nonstutterers, suggesting stutterers may have difficulty in motor programing of…

The study compared five adult stutterers' and five adult nonstutterers' fluent speech patterns produced during one nonshadowed reading and two speech-shadowing conditions (immediate repetition of a heard message). Among results were that stutterers produced fewer speech production errors than nonstutterers during shadowing conditions. (Author/DB)

The study examined whether stutterers (27 children and 19 adults) subvocalize more slowly than nonstutterers and need more time for overt fluent speech production. Results indicated that a strictly motoric explanation of stuttering is inadequate as stutterers and nonstutterers differ in temporal parameters not only during speech execution, but…