Exploring the nature of stuttering through a behavioral-neuro-modulation intervention program in bilinguals with stuttering. Investigations on identifying the nature of stuttering present varying views. The argument remains whether the stuttering dysfluencies have a motor or a linguistic foundation. Though stuttering is considered a speech-motor disorder, linguistic factors are increasingly reported to play a role in stuttering. Current literature points towards deficits in speech-related motor areas of the brain to abnormalities in linguistic planning and phonological memory playing a role in stuttering. Examining cross-linguistic generalization of treatment gains from treated to untreated language in bilinguals who stutter may provide a unique opportunity to explore the motor
Observer-rated outcomes of communication-centered treatment for adults who stutter: A social validation study. Previous studies have reported that adults who stutter demonstrate significant gains in communication competence, per self-ratings and clinician-ratings, upon completion of a communication-centered treatment, or CCT. The purpose of this social validation study was to determine whether communication competence ratings reported by untrained observers are consistent with client and clinician judgments of communication competence gains following CCT. Eighty-one untrained observers completed an online survey that required each to view one of two videos depicting an adult who stutters during a mock interview recorded prior to CCT or after CCT. Observers were then asked to rate the communication
Treatment for preschool age children who stutter: Protocol of a randomised, non-inferiority parallel group pragmatic trial with Mini-KIDS, social cognitive behaviour treatment and the Lidcombe Program-TreatPaCS. Stuttering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, stretched sounds or silent pauses in which the person is unable to produce sounds and sound transitions. Treatment success is the highest if stuttering is treated before the age of 6 years, before it develops into "persistent" stuttering. Stuttering treatment programs that focus directly on the speech of the child, like the Lidcombe Program, have shown to be effective in this age group. Mini-KIDS is also a treatment that focuses directly
Speaking to a metronome reduces kinematic variability in typical speakers and people who stutter. Several studies indicate that people who stutter show greater variability in speech movements than people who do not stutter, even when the speech produced is perceptibly fluent. Speaking to the beat of a metronome reliably increases fluency in people who stutter, regardless of the severity of stuttering. Here, we aimed to test whether metronome-timed speech reduces articulatory variability. We analysed vocal tract MRI data from 24 people who stutter and 16 controls. Participants repeated sentences with and without a metronome. Midsagittal images of the vocal tract from lips to larynx were reconstructed at 33.3 frames per second. Any utterances containing dysfluencies or non-speech movements
Effectiveness of Stuttering Modification Treatment in School-Age Children Who Stutter: A Randomized Clinical Trial. This study investigated the effectiveness of the stuttering modification intervention Kinder Dürfen Stottern (KIDS) in school-age children who stutter. Seventy-three children who stutter were included in this multicenter, two-group parallel, randomized, wait-list controlled trial with a follow-up of 12 months. Children aged 7-11 years were recruited from 34 centers for speech therapy and randomized to either the immediate-treatment group or the 3 months delayed-treatment group. KIDS was provided by 26 clinicians who followed a treatment manual. Although the primary outcome measure was the impact of stuttering (Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering-School-Age
The Effects of Different Sources and Modalities of Stuttering Disclosure on Listeners' Perceptions of a Child who Stutters. Research reveals the clinical efficacy of both verbal and written stuttering disclosure statements provided by a child who stutters (CWS) and his advocates (i.e., mother or teacher) [1,2]. Although existing data reveals that both the source (i.e., self- vs. advocate -disclosure) and modality (i.e., verbal or written) of stuttering disclosure yields significant improvements in the perceptions of speech skills and personality characteristics of CWS, there is a paucity of research directly comparing the modality (verbal vs. written) and source (self, mother, teacher) of disclosure statements. Accordingly, this study analyzes listeners' perceptions of a 12-year-old male
The relation between long latency cortical auditory evoked potentials and stuttering severity in stuttering school-age children. Disturbances in auditory processing and feedback have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of developmental stuttering. Long latency cortical auditory evoked potentials in response to non-linguistic and linguistic stimuli can be used to investigate these disturbances. There were differences between developmental stuttering patients. However, there is no solid evidence of these differences to date. This study aims to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in component P1-N1-P2 of long latency cortical auditory evoked potentials between stuttering school-aged children and non-stuttering children. In addition, the study aims
Listener perceptions of stuttering and stuttering modification techniques. The purpose of this study was to analyse naïve listener perceptions of speech containing unmodified stuttering, use of the pull-out technique, and use of preparatory-sets. Participants (N = 62) were randomly assigned to listen to one audio sample (unmodified stuttered speech, speech with pull-outs, or speech with preparatory-sets) and completed a survey assessing perceptions of the speaker's speech and personality and the listener's comfort level and willingness to social interact with the speaker. Survey results revealed low perceptual ratings in all experimental conditions. Unmodified stuttered speech received significantly more positive ratings than the stuttering modification conditions in all measurements
Musical pitch and timbre perception in stuttering children. This study aims to evaluate musical pitch and timbre perception in children who stutter and compare the results with typically developing children. A total of 50 participants were included in the study, consisting of 25 children with stuttering (mean age = 10.06 years; range 6-17 years) and 25 typically developing children (mean age = 10.38 years; range 7-16 years). Participants were administered Pitch Direction Discrimination (PDD) and Timbre Recognition (TR) tests in the original form of The Clinical Assessment of Music Perception. Both subtests were administered in a quiet room, and the children used headphones to receive auditory stimuli. The mean PDD score of the stuttering group was 3.60 semitones (SD = 2.71), while the mean
A pilot study of stuttering treatment for older children (STOC). This pilot study explored an operant treatment for school-age children, Stuttering Treatment for Older Children (STOC), in increasing quality of life and the fluency of school-aged children who stutter. The participants were seven children 9-13 years old. A single-case experimental design using multiple baselines was utilized of dosage, adherence, quality of the delivery, and responsiveness. For all participants, the STOC intervention showed promising results. Participant-reported quality of life significantly increased for those participants who completed the STOC program. The frequency of stuttering (percentage of syllables stuttered) decreased by an average of 72 % between the initial baseline measurement and later stages
Predictors of public attitudes in Saudi Arabia toward people who stutter. The Public Opinion Survey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) was used to measure the attitudes of the general population in Saudi Arabia toward people who stutter (PWS) and to identify the predictors of the overall stuttering score (OSS). A total of 404 adults from Saudi Arabia (16.8% male and 83.2% female) completed an online POSHA-S questionnaire. The attitudes of adults in Saudi Arabia were similar to those of other samples worldwide. Working status, income, and multilingualism were substantial predictors of the OSS. Saudi adults have positive impressions, beliefs, and self-reactions to PWS. However, their knowledge of stuttering tends to be limited. Therefore, campaigns conducted to raise awareness of stuttering
Rhythmic tapping difficulties in adults who stutter: A deficit in beat perception, motor execution, or sensorimotor integration? The study aims to better understand the rhythmic abilities of people who stutter and to identify which processes potentially are impaired in this population: (1) beat perception and reproduction; (2) the execution of movements, in particular their initiation; (3 ) sensorimotor integration. Finger tapping behavior of 16 adults who stutter (PWS) was compared with that of 16 matching controls (PNS) in five rhythmic tasks of various complexity: three synchronization tasks - a simple 1:1 isochronous pattern, a complex non-isochronous pattern, and a 4 tap:1 beat isochronous pattern -, a reaction task to an aperiodic and unpredictable pattern, and a reproduction task
Evaluation of an Integrated Fluency and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Intervention for Adolescents and Adults Who Stutter. Developmental stuttering is a complex and multifaceted neurodevelopmental disorder that may cause pervasive negative consequences for adults who stutter (AWS). Historically, intervention for AWS has primarily addressed speech fluency, with less focus on the covert psychosocial aspects of the disorder. The purpose of this article is to report on a feasibility trial evaluating a novel integrated intervention that combines traditional stuttering management techniques with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for AWS. Twenty-nine AWS participated in the feasibility trial. All participants successfully completed a combined fluency and ACT intervention, titled
The application of neuronavigated rTMS of the supplementary motor area and rhythmic speech training for stuttering intervention. Stuttering, a neurodevelopmental speech fluency disorder, is associated with intermittent disruptions of speech-motor control. Behavioural treatments for adults who stutter (AWS) concentrate on adopting speech patterns that enhance fluency, such as speaking rhythmically or prolonging speech sounds. However, maintaining these treatment benefits can be challenging. Neuroimaging studies suggest that supplementary motor area (SMA) which play a crucial role in speech initiation, planning and internal timing shows aberrant activation in speech production of AWS and may contribute to stuttering. Preliminary evidence suggests that brain stimulation may impact
Localization of stuttering based on causal brain lesions. Stuttering affects approximately 1 in 100 adults and can result in significant communication problems and social anxiety. It most often occurs as a developmental disorder but can also be caused by focal brain damage. These latter cases may lend unique insight into the brain regions causing stuttering. Here, we investigated the neuroanatomical substrate of stuttering using three independent datasets: (i) case reports from the published literature of acquired neurogenic stuttering following stroke (n = 20, 14 males/six females, 16-77 years); (ii) a clinical single study cohort with acquired neurogenic stuttering following stroke (n = 20, 13 males/seven females, 45-87 years); and (iii) adults with persistent developmental stuttering (n
Abnormal cerebral blood flow in children with developmental stuttering. Stuttering affects approximately 5% of children; however, its neurological basis remains unclear. Identifying imaging biomarkers could aid in early detection. Accordingly, we investigated resting-state cerebral blood flow (CBF) in children with developmental stuttering. Pulsed arterial spin labelling magnetic resonance imaging was utilised to quantify CBF in 35 children with developmental stuttering and 27 healthy controls. We compared normalised CBF between the two groups and evaluated the correlation between abnormal CBF and clinical indicators. Compared with healthy controls, the stuttering group exhibited decreased normalised CBF in the cerebellum lobule VI bilaterally, right cuneus, and left superior occipital
Development and evaluation of a combined fluency rules program (FRP) with parent-child interaction training for preschool children who stutter: A randomized controlled trial. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a combined Fluency Rules Program (FRP) with parent-child interaction training for preschool children with stuttering. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 49 preschool children who stuttered. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group, which received the combined FRP with parent-child interaction training, or the control group, which received only the FRP. Both groups attended 45-min therapy sessions twice weekly for three months. According to the change score analysis, at posttest measurement, there were significant
Effectiveness of the Enriched Stuttering Intervention Program Used in Stuttering Children. In this study, we examined the effectiveness of the Enriched Stuttering Intervention Program (ESIP), developed by the researchers, on children with stuttering difficulties. More specifically, we examined the frequency of stuttering, duration of stuttering, behaviors accompanying stuttering, and whether there was a significant difference in the naturalness of speech. We used a quasi-experimental design. The study group study consisted of 5 boys admitted to a Special Education and Rehabilitation Centre during 2019-2020 and diagnosed by a pediatric psychiatrist with stuttering. The information forms prepared by the researchers were used to be completed by the family, the teacher, and the child to collect personal
Effect of an Auditory Temporal Training Program on Speech Fluency of Children with Developmental Stuttering. The present study aims to investigate the effect of a temporal processing-based auditory training program on alleviating stuttering severity in children diagnosed with auditory temporal processing disorders. Thirty-one children with stuttering diagnosed with auditory temporal processing disorders participated in this study (intervention group: 17 participants between seven to 12 years old; control group: 14 participants between eight to 12 years old). The auditory temporal processing test and Stuttering Severity Instrument-3 (SSI-3) were examined before/after 12 sessions (nearly 540 minutes) of training and three months following the conclusion of the intervention. According
Comparing the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy and Mindfulness and Acceptance Group Therapy for Adults who Stutter: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Considering the importance of psychological interventions for adults who stutter (AWS), the present study compared the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy (CBGT) and Mindfulness and Acceptance Group Therapy (MAGT