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Family history as a basis for subgrouping people who stutter
ABSTRACTS
332
asked more questions and produced more positive comments. Fathers were highest in words and utterances produced, and peers were significantly more negative and commented more frequently. The variations in verbal exchanges led the author to question therapy counseling when “blanket” advice is given to apply equally to all members of a stutterer’s family. Further research suggestions are offered.
A COMPARISON OF YOUNG STUTTERERS’ FLUENT VERSUS STUTTERED UTTERANCES ON MEASURES LENGTH AND COMPLEXITY
OF
Gaines, N. D., Runyan, C. M., James Madison University; and Myers, S. C., California State University, Northridge, (A.) Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 1991, 34, 37-42. According to the authors, normal disfluency is affected adversely by increments in sentence length and grammatical complexity. Similar research with dysfluent children has been limited, and with conflicting results. Subjects in this study were 12 children, 4-6 years of age, who were rated moderate-to-severe in stuttering severity, and did not posses concomitant speech/language problems. Spontaneous conversational dyads involving a IO-min play period between each mother and her child were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed. Results indicated that the mean length of utterance (MLU) of dysfluent utterances was significantly greater (0.001) than for fluent utterances. Similarly, stuttered utterances were significantly greater in complexity (0.001) than were fluent utterances. The authors feel their results support therapy programs that emphasize progressive, controlled increments in the length and complexity of client utterances. They suggest further research is needed into the relationship between stuttering and the prompt types eliciting speech, between stuttering and linguistic complexity, between stuttering and response motor complexity, and combinations of the last two aspects.
FAMILY HISTORY AS A BASIS FOR SUBGROUPING PEOPLE WHO STUTTER Poulos, M. G., Ottawa Rehabilitation Center; and Webster,
G., Carleton University, Canada. Journal Hearing Research, 1991, 34, 5-10.
of Speech
and
W.
ABSTRACTS
333
The authors hypothesize that adult stutterers can be separated into two broad subgroups, one being a genetically predispositioned group and the other comprised of persons who suffered brain damage early in life. Over a 7-year period (1982-1989), data from 169 adults and adolescents seen for diagnosis and/or management was accumulated. Ages were 14-60 years, and 87% of the participants were men. All subjects were “developmental” stutterers, at or near the age of speech onset. Subjects were asked to identify any stuttering among immediate or extended family members. They were also asked whether they, or any family member, had speech/language problems other than stuttering, and whether they associated any factor, occurrence, or event with the onset of their stuttering. Results indicated 66% had a family history of stuttering. Of the 57 individuals who reported no family history, 37% reported some factor or event associated with stuttering onset, but only 2.4% of the familyhistory group reported occurrence of associated factors or events. The authors conclude that their data support the hypothesis of two major subgroups in stuttering: those who inherit a predisposition to stuttering and those who seem to have no predisposition but may have suffered possible early brain damage. They suggest that possibly 15%-20% (or more) of stuttering can be caused by brain damage. Recommendation is made for rigorous methodology in exploring history data. The possibility that the two subgroups will have subgroups is also suggested.
PREPARATION TIME AND RESPONSE COMPLEXITY EFFECTS ON STUTTERERS’ AND NONSTUTTERERS’ ACOUSTIC LRT Dembowski, J., and Watson, B. C., University of Texas, Dallas, TX. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 1991, 34, 49059. The authors note the extensive, inconsistent research into reaction times of stutterers. Using a vowel and a vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) task, they measured the laryngeal reaction time (LRT) of 18 adult men. The subjects were 6 controls, 6 mild stutterers (Riley SSI range 8-18, median 12.00), and 6 severe stutterers (SSI range 25-42, median 32.5). Stimuli were presented under two conditions: duration of intertrial intervals (ITI) was randomly varied, and ITI durations were under the control of the subject. It was hypothesized that severe stutterers would not benefit from self-control ITIs, but that mild stutterers would; that severe stutterers would show greater LRT duration differences to vowel versus VCV stimuli, compared to mild stutterers. Overall, severe stutterers had the longest LRTs, followed by mild stutterers, and then by fluent speakers. The non-
332
asked more questions and produced more positive comments. Fathers were highest in words and utterances produced, and peers were significantly more negative and commented more frequently. The variations in verbal exchanges led the author to question therapy counseling when “blanket” advice is given to apply equally to all members of a stutterer’s family. Further research suggestions are offered.
A COMPARISON OF YOUNG STUTTERERS’ FLUENT VERSUS STUTTERED UTTERANCES ON MEASURES LENGTH AND COMPLEXITY
OF
Gaines, N. D., Runyan, C. M., James Madison University; and Myers, S. C., California State University, Northridge, (A.) Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 1991, 34, 37-42. According to the authors, normal disfluency is affected adversely by increments in sentence length and grammatical complexity. Similar research with dysfluent children has been limited, and with conflicting results. Subjects in this study were 12 children, 4-6 years of age, who were rated moderate-to-severe in stuttering severity, and did not posses concomitant speech/language problems. Spontaneous conversational dyads involving a IO-min play period between each mother and her child were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed. Results indicated that the mean length of utterance (MLU) of dysfluent utterances was significantly greater (0.001) than for fluent utterances. Similarly, stuttered utterances were significantly greater in complexity (0.001) than were fluent utterances. The authors feel their results support therapy programs that emphasize progressive, controlled increments in the length and complexity of client utterances. They suggest further research is needed into the relationship between stuttering and the prompt types eliciting speech, between stuttering and linguistic complexity, between stuttering and response motor complexity, and combinations of the last two aspects.
FAMILY HISTORY AS A BASIS FOR SUBGROUPING PEOPLE WHO STUTTER Poulos, M. G., Ottawa Rehabilitation Center; and Webster,
G., Carleton University, Canada. Journal Hearing Research, 1991, 34, 5-10.
of Speech
and
W.
ABSTRACTS
333
The authors hypothesize that adult stutterers can be separated into two broad subgroups, one being a genetically predispositioned group and the other comprised of persons who suffered brain damage early in life. Over a 7-year period (1982-1989), data from 169 adults and adolescents seen for diagnosis and/or management was accumulated. Ages were 14-60 years, and 87% of the participants were men. All subjects were “developmental” stutterers, at or near the age of speech onset. Subjects were asked to identify any stuttering among immediate or extended family members. They were also asked whether they, or any family member, had speech/language problems other than stuttering, and whether they associated any factor, occurrence, or event with the onset of their stuttering. Results indicated 66% had a family history of stuttering. Of the 57 individuals who reported no family history, 37% reported some factor or event associated with stuttering onset, but only 2.4% of the familyhistory group reported occurrence of associated factors or events. The authors conclude that their data support the hypothesis of two major subgroups in stuttering: those who inherit a predisposition to stuttering and those who seem to have no predisposition but may have suffered possible early brain damage. They suggest that possibly 15%-20% (or more) of stuttering can be caused by brain damage. Recommendation is made for rigorous methodology in exploring history data. The possibility that the two subgroups will have subgroups is also suggested.
PREPARATION TIME AND RESPONSE COMPLEXITY EFFECTS ON STUTTERERS’ AND NONSTUTTERERS’ ACOUSTIC LRT Dembowski, J., and Watson, B. C., University of Texas, Dallas, TX. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 1991, 34, 49059. The authors note the extensive, inconsistent research into reaction times of stutterers. Using a vowel and a vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) task, they measured the laryngeal reaction time (LRT) of 18 adult men. The subjects were 6 controls, 6 mild stutterers (Riley SSI range 8-18, median 12.00), and 6 severe stutterers (SSI range 25-42, median 32.5). Stimuli were presented under two conditions: duration of intertrial intervals (ITI) was randomly varied, and ITI durations were under the control of the subject. It was hypothesized that severe stutterers would not benefit from self-control ITIs, but that mild stutterers would; that severe stutterers would show greater LRT duration differences to vowel versus VCV stimuli, compared to mild stutterers. Overall, severe stutterers had the longest LRTs, followed by mild stutterers, and then by fluent speakers. The non-