Search

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the speech performance of fluent speakers and individuals who stutter during spontaneous speech, automatic speech, and singing., Methods: The study sample was composed of 34 adults, 17 individuals who stutter and 17 fluent controls, matched for gender and age. The speech performance of participants was compared by means of three tasks: monologue, automatic speech, and singing. The following aspects were assessed: total number of common disruptions and total number of stuttering-like disruptions., Results: Statistically significant difference was observed only for the monologue task in both intra- and inter-group comparisons., Conclusion: The outcomes of this study indicate that tasks of higher motor and melodic complexities, such as the monologue task, negatively affect the speech fluency of both fluent speakers and individuals who stutter.

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 & Procedures: Two groups of adults who stutter participated: group 1 consisted of 10 men and one woman aged 21-42 years (mean = 30.0). Group 2 consisted of six men and one woman aged 20-50 years (mean = 35.6). Participants in group 1 were fit with a SpeechEasy® device and were not given any additional training (i.e., supplementary fluency enhancing techniques). Participants used the device daily for 6 months. Participants in group 2 received treatment in the form of a 12-week fluency promotion protocol with techniques based on both fluency shaping and stuttering modification., Outcomes & Results: There were no statistically significant differences (p > .05) between groups in participants' stuttered syllables following treatment. That is, both therapeutic protocols achieved approximately 40% reduction in number of stuttered syllables from baseline measures, with no significant relapse after 3 or 6 months post-treatment., Conclusions & Implications: The results suggest that the SpeechEasy® device can be a viable option for the treatment of stuttering., (© 2016 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.)

Objectives: In this study, we compared the performance of both fluent speakers and people who stutter in three different speaking situations: monologue speech, oral reading and choral reading. This study follows the assumption that the neuromotor control of speech can be influenced by external auditory stimuli in both speakers who stutter and speakers who do not stutter., Method: Seventeen adults who stutter and seventeen adults who do not stutter were assessed in three speaking tasks: monologue, oral reading (solo reading aloud) and choral reading (reading in unison with the evaluator). Speech fluency and rate were measured for each task., Results: The participants who stuttered had a lower frequency of stuttering during choral reading than during monologue and oral reading., Conclusions: According to the dual premotor system model, choral speech enhanced fluency by providing external cues for the timing of each syllable compensating for deficient internal cues.

Purpose: To investigate the opinion about stuttering treatments in people who stutter, based on their answers to two open questions., Methods: The participants were 40 adults of both genders, with self-reported stuttering. During the first phase of the research, we contacted two Brazilian nongovernmental organizations: the Brazilian Stuttering Association (ABRAGAGUEIRA) and the Brazilian Fluency Institute (IBF). These associations agreed to participate and were responsible for sending the research questions to their members via electronic mail. The first contact with the participants elucidated the purpose and method of our research and, after obtaining informed consent from participants, the two questions were sent. The research questions involved their opinion about cure, treatments to which the participants had been submitted, and their outcome., Results: After analysis, the answers obtained indicated that people who stutter believe in a cure for stuttering; that the ideal therapy would be the one that led to the disappearance of the symptoms; and the most frequently reported professional to treat the disorder is the speech-language pathologist. The results also indicated that although most of the participants had undergone speech-language treatment for stuttering, neither significant improvements were observed nor satisfaction was positive., Conclusion: The results indicate that the answers presented by the participants were not based on scientific knowledge about the disorder but on their wish that "something could happen" to make stuttering "disappear." Although in this study we did not investigate the type of treatment to which the patients were submitted, the results suggest that the factors that contribute to an effective treatment are contentious.

Although twin, adoption, and family studies demonstrate that genetic factors are involved in the origins of stuttering, the mode of transmission of the disorder in families is not well defined and stuttering is considered a genetically complex trait. We performed a genome-wide linkage scan in a group of 43 Brazilian families, each containing multiple cases of persistent developmental stuttering. Linkage analysis under a dominant model of inheritance generated significant evidence of linkage in two Brazilian families, with a combined maximum single-point LOD score of 4.02 and a multipoint LOD score of 4.28 on chromosome 10q21. This demonstrated the presence of a novel variant gene at this locus that predisposes individuals to stuttering, which provides an opportunity to identify novel genetic mechanisms that underlie this disorder.

Purpose: To examine the possible relationship between lexical variables (categorization and naming) and developmental stuttering., Methods: Thirty Brazilian Portuguese speaking children with ages ranging from 7 to 9 years and 11 months participated in the study. We applied a lexical priming paradigm to experimentally investigate whether children with developmental stuttering (Research Group) differed from their fluent peers (Control Group), with respect to reaction time in three conditions - control (without prime); semantically related prime, and semantically independent prime - of two experimental tasks: categorization and naming of the target stimulus., Results: No difference between groups was observed in reaction time on the categorization task. However, there was a condition effect showing that, for both groups, reaction time was shorter in the semantically related prime condition when compared to the no prime condition. In the naming task, a between-group difference was observed in reaction time, indicating a longer reaction time in the Research Group than the Control Group. There was no condition effect on naming, i.e. the Research Group showed slower reaction time regardless of prime type., Conclusions: The results confirm the hypothesis that, in children with developmental stuttering, readiness in motor programming of speech is slowed when compared to fluent children. There is no difference between groups when the lexical function does not require speech readiness.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the exchange of disfluencies from function words to content words with age in Brazilian Portuguese speakers who do and do not stutter. Ninety stuttering individuals and 90 controls, native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, were divided into three age groups (children, adolescents and adults). The study method involved analyzing the occurrence of stuttering on content and function words based on spontaneous speech samples. Results indicated that children tend to be more disfluent on function words. With the increase in age, teenagers and adults who stutter presented a higher number of disfluencies on content words. These findings support the current literature, indicating that with the aging process, there is an exchange of disfluencies from function to content words. This shift in the disfluency pattern may account for a more advanced type of stuttering. The study also demonstrated that disfluencies in Portuguese speakers follow the same pattern of shifting from function to content words with age as for English speakers.

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to acoustically compare the performance of children who do and do not stutter on diadochokinesis tasks in terms of syllable duration, syllable periods, and peak intensity., Methods: In this case-control study, acoustical analyses were performed on 26 children who stutter and 20 aged-matched normally fluent children (both groups stratified into preschoolers and school-aged children) during a diadochokinesis task: the repetition of articulatory segments through a task testing the ability to alternate movements. Speech fluency was assessed using the Fluency Profile and the Stuttering Severity Instrument., Results: The children who stutter and those who do not did not significantly differ in terms of the acoustic patterns they produced in the diadochokinesis tasks. Significant differences were demonstrated between age groups independent of speech fluency. Overall, the preschoolers performed poorer. These results indicate that the observed differences are related to speech-motor age development and not to stuttering itself., Conclusions: Acoustic studies demonstrate that speech segment durations are most variable, both within and between subjects, during childhood and then gradually decrease to adult levels by the age of eleven to thirteen years. One possible explanation for the results of the present study is that children who stutter presented higher coefficients of variation to exploit the motor equivalence to achieve accurate sound production (i.e., the absence of speech disruptions).

Unlabelled: Positron emission tomography studies during speech have indicated a failure to show the normal activation of auditory cortical areas in stuttering individuals. In the present study, P300 event-related potentials were used to investigate possible effects of behavioral treatment on the pattern of signal amplitude and latency between waves. In order to compare variations in P300 measurements, a control group paired by age and gender to the group of stutterers, was included in the study. Findings suggest that the group of stutterers presented a significant decrease in stuttering severity after the fluency treatment program. Regarding P300 measurements, stutterers and their controls presented results within normal limits in all testing situations and no significant statistical variations between pre and post treatment testing. When comparing individual results between the testing situations, stutterers presented a higher average decrease in wave latency for the right ear following treatment. The results are discussed in light of previous P300 event-related potentials and functional imaging studies with stuttering adults., Educational Objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to describe the: (1) use of P300 event-related potentials in the study of stuttering; (2) differences between stuttering and non-stuttering adults; and (3) effects of behavioral fluency treatment on cerebral activity in stuttering speakers., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to quantify and compare the typology of speech disruptions presented by stuttering and fluent Brazilian Portuguese-speaking children, adolescents and adults., Subjects and Methods: Participants were 150 individuals, with ages between 4.0 and 49.11 years, who were divided into six groups: children who stutter (n = 25), children who do not stutter (n = 25), adolescents who stutter (n = 25), adolescents who do not stutter (n = 25), adults who stutter (n = 25) and adults who do not stutter (n = 25). For each participant, the frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD) and other disfluencies was calculated based on the video recordings of spontaneous speech samples., Results: The results obtained for SLD were significant when comparing stuttering and fluent individuals. In children who stutter, adolescents who stutter, and adults who stutter, a higher frequency of SLD was found. Other disfluencies did not differentiate the groups., Conclusion: The age factor did not qualify quantitatively any of the groups, but indicated qualitative differences (in terms of the type of speech disfluencies) between groups. The results revealed similarities when compared with studies carried out in different languages., (Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Purpose: To perform a systematic review of studies related to the effects of delayed auditory feedback on speech fluency in individuals who stutter., Research Strategy: Concepts of the Cochrane Handbook were followed: formulation of initial question (theme to be reviewed), location and selection of studies (PubMed database) and compatibilization among researchers (aiming to minimize possible citation losses)., Selection Criteria: The following were excluded: citations in languages other than English, citations that did not allow access to full text, repeated citations due to the overlap of keywords, studies developed exclusively with fluent individuals, case reports, reviews of the literature, letters to the editor, and texts that were not directly related to the theme. Hence, texts that were related to treatment with delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency-altered feedback (FAF) were analyzed., Data Analysis: Data were analyzed according to research indicators and according to study quality markers., Results: The results indicated that the use of altered auditory feedback devices for the reduction of stuttering events still do not have robust support for their applicability. Methodological variability does not allow a consistent answer, or a trend about the effectiveness of the device, to be drawn., Conclusion: Although the limitations in the studies prevent generalizations about the effectiveness of the device for the reduction of stuttering, these same limitations are important resources for future research planning.

Background: genetic factors as a possible cause of stuttering., Aim: to identify the speech fluency family profile (linguistic, electromyographic and acoustic aspects) in children with and without a close family history of stuttering., Method: the study included a total of 127 individuals, 32 children (probands) and 95 members of the immediate family (father, mother, sisters and brothers). The individuals were divided in two groups: GI (SC) was composed of 17 probands with a diagnosis of stuttering, 17 fathers, 17 mothers, 10 brothers, and 13 sisters, and GII (NSC) was composed of 15 fluent probands, 15 fathers, 15 mothers, no brothers, and 8 sisters. All testing procedures were applied to all participants as follows: 1) identification of disruption typology; 2) electromyographic analyses; and 3) acoustic analyses., Results: the percentage of affected mothers was 41.1%, and the percentage of affected fathers was 35.3%. In addition, the percentage of affected sisters was 6.7%, and 40% of the brothers were affected. Similarity was observed in the typology of speech disruptions in all of the affected individuals of the same family; however, a trend towards a greater severity of the disorder in probands was observed. Similarity was found in muscle activation for diadochokinesia rates in all the affected individuals in the same family. This suggests the existence of a speech motor pattern within the same family that can be measured by capturing peripheral muscle activation. Similarity was found in the acoustic variation for diadochokinetic rates in all affected individuals of the same family., Conclusion: this study represents one of the first endophenotypic research proposals on stuttering characterized by two aspects: objective inclusion criteria and the type of stuttering symptomatology manifested.

Background: this study examines the linguistic features that may influence the occurrence of speech boundaries in fluent and stuttering individuals., Aim: the study seeks to examine the influences of tone and position in a word on the occurrence of speech boundaries in stuttering and fluent adolescents and adults., Method: one hundred and twenty individuals took part in this study, both male and female, with ages between 12.0 and 49.11 years old, and were divided into 4 groups: research group 1 (RG1), with 30 stuttering adolescents; research group 2 (RG2), with 30 stuttering adults; control group 1 (CG1), with 30 fluent adolescents; and control group 2 (GC2), with 30 fluent adults. Speech samples containing 200 fluent syllables were collected. In the speech samples, the broken syllables were analyzed according to their tone (unstressed, pre-stressed or stressed) and according to the position in the word (initial, middle or final syllable)., Results: for tone, there was no statistically significant difference in the number of boundaries between the evaluated tones for any of the tested groups. For the location of the broken syllable, there was a predominance of broken syllables in the initial position of words for the stuttering groups of speakers. For the fluent groups, the ruptures were more frequent in the final syllable., Conclusion: the results of this study reinforce the theory that broken speech is mainly a consequence of slow phonological coding and a corresponding slowness in the building up and recovery of the phonetic plan.

Background: electromyography and diadochokinesia., Aim: to analyze the oral movement rate in children with persistent developmental stuttering and in normally fluent children during the repetition of articulatory segments (diadochokinesia - DDK)., Method: participants of the study were 50 children, with no distinction of gender and race, enrolled in public schools (primary and junior) of São Paulo city and Great São Paulo, whose families agreed, through informed consent, with the research procedures. The research group (GI) consisted of 19 children diagnosed as stutterers. The control group (GII) consisted of 31 fluent children., Results: the results of the study indicate that there were great similarities in performance in the DDK tasks for both groups. Standard deviation values were high for both groups., Conclusion: statistically significant differences were observed for the ability of sequential movement, i.e. when looking at ANOVA results the group of fluent children presented a better ability to move their articulators rapidly when producing sequential segments (pa/ta/ka).

Background: stuttering is a speech fluency disorder. Auditory evoked potentials (AEP) are electrophysiological tests that are being used as an instrument to establish the diagnosis of several disorders as well as to assess therapeutic outcomes., Aim: 1 - to characterize the AEP of individuals with stuttering in comparison to a control group; 2 - to verify the amelioration of these potentials post speech-language treatment., Method: the research sample was composed by 8 adult males with stuttering - research group (RG), with ages ranging from 18 to 30 years, and 8 normally fluent adult males - control group (CG), within the same age range. Each group was assessed twice through brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER), middle latency response (MLR) and P300; assessments were carried out with a three months interval., Results: pre therapeutic outcomes - altered BAER results in one individual of the RG; altered MLR results in two individuals of the RG and in one individual of the CG; altered P300 results in two individuals of the RG. Comparison between pre and post speech-language treatment results indicate: BAER - decrease in wave I latency in 66.7% of the ears in the RG; MLR - a 16.7% decrease in wave PA latency in C3 for the RG; P300 latency decreased by 58.7% in both groups., Conclusion: the findings of this study indicate that MLR and P300 were the potentials that better characterized both groups and the three AEP expressed the neural plasticity post-speech-language treatment.

Background: quality of life., Aim: to verify the influence of the readiness of speech--regarding affective, behavioral and cognitive reactions--over the life quality of fluent individuals and those with persistent developmental stuttering (PDS)., Method: 40 adults divided in two groups, paired by gender and age. The research group (GI) consisted of 20 individuals with PDS, with no other associated deficit. The research group (GII) consisted of 20 fluent individuals. All of the participants answered a Self-Assessment Protocol--version for adults. This protocol is composed by three thematic sessions, each one presenting five questions. Each question should be answered by choosing a number on a scale that varies from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree). The first session corresponds to the affective reactions, the second to the behavioral reactions and the third to the cognitive reactions. All of the participants answered all of the 15 questions., Results: the findings indicate that a difference in the perception of speech and speech fluency exists between fluent individuals and individuals with PDS. For the individuals with PDS, the different stuttering severity levels did not present divergent points; on the contrary, even the individuals with mild PDS presented the same affective, behavioral and cognitive profiles of those with a more severe stuttering., Conclusion: the results indicate that the experience with stuttering is different among the individuals in terms of the observable speech characteristics, functional communication difficulties experienced by the individual in everyday situations, having a negative impact in the quality of life.

Background: One contemporary view of stuttering posits that speech disfluencies arise from anomalous speech motor control., Purpose: To verify the rest muscle tension and speech reaction time of fluent and stuttering adults., Method: 22 adults, divided in two groups: G1--11 fluent individuals; G2--11 stutterers. Electromyography recordings (inferior orbicularis oris) were collected in two different situations: during rest and in a reaction time activity., Results: The groups were significantly different considering rest muscle tension (G2 higher recordings) and did not differ when considering speech reaction time and muscle activity during speech. There was a strong positive correlation between speech reaction time and speech muscle activity for G2--the longer the speech reaction time, the higher the muscle activity during speech., Conclusion: In addition to perceptible episodes of speech disfluency, stutterers exhibit anomalies in speech motor output during fluent speech. Correlations with a possible cortical-subcortical disorder are discussed.

Background: the use of a technological resource in fluency promotion., Aim: to verify the effectiveness of a stuttering treatment based on the use of surface electromyography (SEMG) exclusively., Method: participants were four stuttering adults of both genders. Assessment, pre and post-treatment, consisted of a speech gathering session and the analyses of the rest tension and of the reaction time for speech. Treatment consisted of twelve twenty minute training sessions monitored by SEMG., Results: there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of stuttering-like disfluencies (p = 0.094) and in the number of other disfluencies (p = 0.014). The other parameters, as well as differences in the electromyographic measurements, did not present significant variation., Conclusion: SEMG proved to be effective in the reduction of stuttering, with no need of association to other techniques.

Background: stuttering., Aim: to compare muscle activation in fluent and stuttering individuals during speech and non-speech tasks., Method: six adults divided in two groups: G1 - three fluent individuals; G2 - three stuttering individuals. Muscle activity (surface electromyography) was captured by disposable electrodes fixed in four regions. Testing situations: muscle rest tension, speech reaction time, non-verbal activity, verbal activity., Results: There was no significant statistical difference between the groups for the rest tension; G2 present longer speech reaction times; G2 presented muscle activity during the non-verbal task similar to that observed during rest; Muscle activity of G1 and G2 during the verbal task demonstrated to be similar., Conclusion: these results suggests that for G2 there is a poor control of timing for the coordination of motor processes.

Background: speech fluency varies from one individual to the next, fluent or stutterer, depending on several factors. Studies that investigate the influence of age on fluency patterns have been identified; however these differences were investigated in isolated age groups. Studies about life span fluency variations were not found., Aim: to verify the speech fluency developmental profile., Method: speech samples of 594 fluent participants of both genders, with ages between 2:0 and 99:11 years, speakers of the Brazilian Portuguese language, were analyzed. Participants were grouped as follows: pre-scholars, scholars, early adolescence, late adolescence, adults and elderlies. Speech samples were analyzed according to the Speech Fluency Profile variables and were compared regarding: typology of speech disruptions (typical and less typical), speech rate (words and syllables per minute) and frequency of speech disruptions (percentage of speech discontinuity)., Results: although isolated variations were identified, overall there was no significant difference between the age groups for the speech disruption indexes (typical and less typical speech disruptions and percentage of speech discontinuity). Significant differences were observed between the groups when considering speech rate., Conclusion: the development of the neurolinguistic system for speech fluency, in terms of speech disruptions, seems to stabilize itself during the first years of life, presenting no alterations during the life span. Indexes of speech rate present variations in the age groups, indicating patterns of acquisition, development, stabilization and degeneration.

The Speech Fluency Profile of fluent adolescent speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, were examined with respect to gender and neurolinguistic variations. Speech samples of 130 male and female adolescents, aged between 12;0 and 17;11 years were gathered. They were analysed according to type of speech disruption; speech rate; and frequency of speech disruptions. Statistical analysis did not find significant differences between genders for the variables studied. However, regarding the phases of adolescence (early: 12;0-14;11 years; late: 15;0-17;11 years), statistical differences were observed for all of the variables. As for neurolinguistic maturation, a decrease in the number of speech disruptions and an increase in speech rate occurred during the final phase of adolescence, indicating that the maturation of the motor and linguistic processes exerted an influence over the fluency profile of speech.

Background: P300 event-related potential has been used as an instrument to establish the diagnosis of several disorders as well as to assess therapeutic outcomes., Aim: to investigate the relationship between stuttering amelioration and cerebral activity., Method: P300 event-related potentials were obtained in three adult males, all stutterers, aged 20 to 31 years, pre and post-treatment, verifying changes in wave amplitude and latency between waves., Results: results indicate a significant positive correlation between the reduction in the percentage of stuttered syllables and the improvement in wave amplitude for the right ear., Conclusion: stutterers can exhibit different patterns of interhemispheric activity with a tonal P300 task after undergoing a fluency-enhancing program.

Background: Developmental stuttering is a pathology which begins during childhood. during the phase of language acquisition and development and is characterized as being chronic., Aim: To verify the influence of typology and grammatical classes on the occurrence of speech disruptions of stuttering and fluent children., Method: Participants of this study were 80 children, with ages between 4.0 and 11.11 years, residents in the city of São Paulo. Participants were divided in two groups: GI (research group) was composed by 40 children (29 male and 11 female) with the diagnosis of stuttering, and with no other associated communication. neurologic and cognitive deficits: GII (control group) was composed by 40 fluent children, paired by age and gender with the participants of GI., Results: The data indicate that the groups do not differ regarding the occurrence of typical disfluencies. Less typical disflucncies occurred predominantly for GI. As for the grammatical class, speech disruptions were more frequent in function words for both groups., Conclusion: These results indicate that the analyses of speech disruptions, in terms of typology and grammatical classes, bring several information that are necessary for the assessment and diagnosis of childhood stuttering. This analysis points the differences and similarities between stuttering and fluent children.

Background: People typically regard stutterers as shy, nervous, introverted, and fearful, a so-called "stuttering stereotype". Many stutterers are also subjected to teasing and bullying or to illegal discrimination., Aim: Currently, there are no widely-accepted, standardized instruments used to measure public attitudes toward stuttering around the world. Accordingly, an International Project on Attitudes Toward Stuttering (IPATS) initiative was launched in 1999 to develop such an instrument, named the Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes (POSHA)., Method: This study compares selected results from three groups of adults from countries in South America (Brazil), Eastern Europe (Bulgaria), and the Middle East (Turkey). Respondents were pooled into three groups according to place-of-residence variable by country and a survey language variable. All of the respondents completed the questionnaire in the primary language of their countries., Results and Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that some attitude differences among respondents may be explained by an interaction of national, cultural, ethnic, religious, or language differences, although the relative contribution of each component cannot be determined. In a subsequent tier of survey analyses, ratings by these respondents will be compared with the ratings of respondents from other countries completing the survey in English.

Background: acoustic analyses of speech naturalness., Aim: to use voice onset time (VOT) measure as a parameter of speech naturalness, comparing the outcome of two stuttering treatment procedures., Method: 12 adult stutterers were divided in two groups and submitted to the same Fluency Promotion Program (FPF). For GI: surface electromyography (EMG) was used as biofeedback., Results: the results indicate that for GI 50% of the participants presented a more natural sounding speech after the FPF, whereas for GII only 17% of the participants demonstrated adequate speech naturalness in the same period., Conclusion: although the number of participants of this research was small, the association of EMG to a FPP seems to produce a more natural sounding speech.

Context: The speech rate is one of the parameters considered when investigating speech fluency and is an important variable in the assessment of individuals with communication complaints., Objective: To correlate the stuttering severity index with one of the indices used for assessing fluency/speech rate., Design: Cross-sectional study., Setting: Fluency and Fluency Disorders Investigation Laboratory, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo., Participants: Seventy adults with stuttering diagnosis., Main Measurements: A speech sample from each participant containing at least 200 fluent syllables was videotaped and analyzed according to a stuttering severity index test and speech rate parameters., Results: The results obtained in this study indicate that the stuttering severity and the speech rate present significant variation, i.e., the more severe the stuttering is, the lower the speech rate in words and syllables per minute., Discussion and Conclusion: The results suggest that speech rate is an important indicator of fluency levels and should be incorporated in the assessment and treatment of stuttering. This study represents a first attempt to identify the possible subtypes of developmental stuttering., Definition: Objective tests that quantify diseases are important in their diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.