Normal Dysfluencies and Dysfluent Speech Patterns

1. Normal Dysfluencies and Dysfluent Speech Patterns • 1. As children pass through the developmental stages of language learning, they will be more disfluent at certain times than others • developmental periods of dysfuency are a normal occurrence • normally communicating children hit the peak of dysfluiecny usually between 2.5-4 years of age • normal dysfluencies characterized by • repetition of whole words and phrases • occasional interjections, “uh” “er”

2. Incipient Dysfluent Behaviors • 2. Transitional stage most children leave behind • stage of development • 3. Dysfluencies of incipient stutterers are markedly different for those of normally developing counterparts • Rule of Thumb: the larger the linguistic unit, the less the concern

3. Incipient Dysfluent Behaviors • 4.Characteristics • -prolongations longer than • -repetitions of syllable and sounds • -use of schwa • -signs of physical struggle • -frequency and duration increases • -more than 5% of child’s speech characterized by repetitions of sounds or words AND more than 1% abnormally prolonged, • child has left the boundaries of normal developmental dysfluency

4. Protocol for Differentiating the Incipient StuttererP 26 Culatta and Goildberg

5. Protocol for Differentiating the Incipient Stutterer • By Pindzola & White, 1986 • instrument that synthesizes characteristics of incipient stuttering • places dysfluent behavior on a continuum and evaluates in cumulative impact of 21 possible behaviors in major categories • I. Auditory Behaviors • 2. Visual Evidence • 3. Historical/Psychological Indicators

6. Wendell Johnson’s View • Part Word Repetitions • Whole word repetitions with either audible or visible signs of tensing • Interjections of Sounds, syllables • Revisions-Incomplete Phrases • Dysrhythmic phonations • prolongations • schwa vowel • Tense pauses

7. Characteristics needed for a dysfluent speaker to be labeled a stutterer • 1. Behavior must have a developmental history beginning in childhood • 2. No identifiable etiological or maintaining factors • 3. Repetition patterns differ from normal speakers • 4. Symptoms can be modified by any number of clinical manipulations • 5. Allied or ‘secondary characteristics’ are not evident during fluent periods • 6. Speaker has internalized a belief system concerning communication acknowledging stuttering and recognizes difficulty of specific communication situations

8. End of Lecture Notes