Day-to-day Variability of Stuttering

Variability has long been known to be a primary feature of the disorder of stuttering (Bloodstein & Bernstein Ratner, 2008; Costello & Ingham, 1984; Yaruss, 1997a, 1997b). Many factors that affect variability have been investigated (Brown, 1937; Johnson & Brown, 1935; Quarrington, Conway, & Siegel, 1962) yet the typical range of variability experienced by speakers remains unknown. This study will examine the speech of six adult speakers in three spontaneous speaking situations and two reading tasks. The frequency, duration, and types of stuttered events that occur on the tasks will be compared within and between speakers. The focus will be on describing variability in stuttering frequency and duration within speakers and attempting to detect consistent patterns between speakers

The impact of a stuttering disorder on Western Australian children and adolescents

In this study, we examined the impact of a stuttering disorder on children (n=50) and adolescents (n=45) living in Western Australia. We compared the reactions and experiences of children and adolescents who stutter to children and adolescents who do not stutter. We compared the participants who stuttered and the fluent participants using adapted versions of the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES). We also examined the relationship between biopsychosocial impact and stuttered speech frequency. We saw higher levels of adverse impact in young people who stuttered compared to their fluent peers. In addition, we found moderate correlations between OASES scores and stuttered speech frequency in children. These findings provided a baseline for establishing the degree of negative impact that a stuttering disorder may bring about in children and adolescents. The experiences of young people who stuttered were significantly different from the experiences of young people who were typically fluent. These findings reinforce the notion that stuttering is a disorder that can lead to negative impact for young people

Reaction Time Performance in Healthy Adults as an Effect of Age and Hand Preference Using the CRTT

Background: The Computerized Revised Token Test (CRTT) is a standardized assessment of language processing abilities. The test requires perceptual, motor, and cognitive skills that may impact patient performance. A battery of reaction time tasks (CRTT-RT) was developed to assess these skills on a more basic, nonlinguistic level in order to assess a patient’s perceptual-motor-cognitive skills’ contribution to their CRTT language performance. Normative data on the CRTT-RT Battery do not currently exist across age and for right and left hands. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of age and hand preference on the simple and choice reaction time (RT) tasks included in the CRTT-RT Battery. Procedures: Sixty-four healthy, normal adults completed the CRTT-RT tasks and the CRTT-R-WF version of the CRTT with both their right and left hands. Participants included 32 younger adults (20-32 years; 16 male, 16 female) and 32 older adults (65-78 years; 16 male, 16 female). For this study, the CRTT-RT data were analyzed to evaluate the effects of age and hand preference on speed and accuracy of responses. Results: Statistically significant main effects were determined for both age and hand preference on all RT tasks combined. Age effects were additionally observed on individual RT tasks, where the older group performed slower (increased RT) than the younger group. Hand preference effects were observed on 4 of the 6 RT tasks, those that required motor movement control and response mapping, with the left hand performing significantly slower. A significant interaction between age and hand was observed for CRTT-RT Task 3 (Movement), where the older group demonstrated an over-additive slowing with the left hand. Accuracy of responses on the choice RT tasks demonstrated non-substantive differences between age and hand. Conclusions: Slowing in reaction time performance on the CRTT-RT Battery is evident with increased age as well as non-preferred hand use with a computer mouse. Theories of generalized slowing with age, increased task complexity, cognitive load, and automaticity are explored as potential explanations for the obtained results

Temperament, executive functioning, and anxiety in school-age children who stutter

The purpose of this study was to examine temperament dimensions, executive functioning ability, and anxiety levels in school-age children who stutter and their non-stuttering peers. Participants were 100 Portuguese children aged 7 to 12 years (M = 9.13; SD = 1.70), including 50 children who stutter and 50 children who do not stutter. Analyses, which were performed separately for younger and older participants, sought to identify correlations between key variables. Temperament was evaluated through a parent questionnaire, executive functioning was evaluated through children’s responses on a performance test, and anxiety level was assessed through a self-perception scale. On the temperament measure, comparisons between children who stutter and their non-stuttering peers revealed that older children who stutter exhibited significantly higher scores on the Anger/Frustration, Impulsivity, and Sadness subscales, and lower averages on the Attention/Focusing, Perceptual sensitivity, and Soothability/Falling Reactivity subscales. On the executive functioning task, comparisons revealed that the group of younger children who stutter exhibited significantly higher average execution times than their non-stuttering peers. There were no statistically significant differences in anxiety between children who stutter and children who do not stutter, and there were no statistically significant correlations between temperament factors and measures of executive functioning. Children who stutter experienced lower ability to orient attention and greater emotional reactivity compared with their non-stuttering peers. Significant correlations were found between executive functioning and age and among the temperament factors themselves. These results, which support the need for a multidimensional view of stuttering, were interpreted in the context of the Dual Diathesis – Stressor model. Findings indicate that temperament and executive functioning abilities may contribute to the development of stuttering.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Psychometric evaluation of the Dutch translation of the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering for adults (OASES-A-D)

Abstract: The Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering for adults (OASES-A; Yaruss & Quesal, 2006, 2010) is a patient-reported outcome measure that was designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of “the experience of the stuttering disorder from the perspective of individuals who stutter” (Yaruss & Quesal, 2006, p.90). This paper reports on the translation process and evaluates the psychometric performance of a Dutch version of the OASES-A. Translation of the OASES-A into Dutch followed a standard forward and backward translation process. The Dutch OASES-A (OASES-A-D) was then administered to 138 adults who stutter. A subset of 91 respondents also evaluated their speech on a 10-point Likert scale. For another subset of 45 respondents, a clinician-based stuttering severity rating on a 5-point Likert scale was available. Thirty-two of the respondents also completed the Dutch S-24 scale (Brutten & Vanryckeghem, 2003). The OASES-A-D showed acceptable item properties. No ceiling effects were observed. For 30 out of 100 items, most of which were in Section IV (Quality of Life), floor effects were observed. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for all sections and subsections surpassed the 0.70 criterion of good internal consistency and reliability. Concurrent validity was moderate to high. Construct validity was confirmed by distinct scores on the OASES-A-D for groups with different levels of stuttering severity as rated by the speakers themselves or by clinicians. These results suggest that the OASES-A-D is a reliable and valid measure that can be used to assess the impact of stuttering on Dutch adults who stutter

Gaguez na criança - atualização da revisão de literatura

Introduction: Stuttering is a fluency disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted. The disorder is frequently misunderstood and to better analyze it is necessary to understand stuttering as more than a speech problem. Recent literature points out thatshould instead be viewed as a communication disorder with the potential to affect several aspects of children’s lives.  Different perspectives about stuttering can bring a more diverse analysis and move the field forward in scientific knowledge, however, it can also lead to fragmented and controversial views. Despite some lingering scientific consensus issues, there has been growing agreement among researchers that stuttering is a multifactorial disorder. Aim: To summarize and analyze previously published research considering stuttering as a dynamic disorder influenced by several factors. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive review which focuses on the development of stuttering, and the implications for the onset, manifestation, and chronicity of this disorder in school-age children who stutter. Results: Because of the ever-increasing literature in the area of stuttering, the review addresses assessment procedures and the perception of the impact of stuttering on children’s daily life. Conclusion: This comprehensive view contributes to an updated understanding of therapeutic and scientific factors to be considered in the evaluation and treatment of stuttering.Introdução: A gaguez é uma Perturbação da Fluência na qual o fluxo da fala é interrompido. Para melhor compreender esta perturbação não é possível analisá-la como um simples problema de fala. Deve ser vista como uma perturbação da comunicação com potencial para afetar vários aspetos da vida das crianças. Diferentes perspetivas sobre a gaguez podem trazer uma análise mais diversificada e contribuir para o avanço científico nesta área; no entanto, também pode levar a visões fragmentadas e controversas. Apesar de nem sempre haver unanimidade científica entre os diferentes autores, existe um consenso crescente entre os investigadores de que a gaguez é uma perturbação multifatorial. Objetivo: Resumir e analisar pesquisas publicadas anteriormente, considerando a gaguez como uma perturbação dinâmica, influenciada por vários fatores. Materiais e Métodos: Revisão da literatura que se foca no desenvolvimento da gaguez, manifestação e cronicidade em crianças, com idade escolar que gaguejam. A revisão aborda ainda os procedimentos de avaliação e a perceção do impacto da gaguez na vida diária das crianças. Conclusão: Esta visão abrangente contribui para uma melhor compreensão dos fatores terapêuticos e científicos que devem ser considerados na avaliação e intervenção da gaguez

The Impact Of Stuttering On Quality Of Life Of Children And Adolescents.

Understanding the experience of people who stutter, both in and out treatment, will lead to improved outcomes. To investigate how stuttering affects the quality of life of children and adolescents who stutter. The Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering--School-Age (OASES-S) was used to assess the impact of stuttering and the Fluency Profile Protocol was used to stuttering severity. These age groups do experience moderate negative impact as measured by the OASES-S. The results showed a tendency toward a positive correlation between severity and the impact of stuttering on quality of life. A better understanding of the impact of stuttering in these age groups provides a needed guide for the development of stuttering treatments and treatment outcomes research.22567-

Health-related quality of life in people with aphasia: Implications for fluency disorders quality of life research

Abstract It is increasingly important that clinicians address the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of adults with communication disorders in clinical practice. The overall aim of this paper is to draw conclusion about the suitability of the Short Form 36 Health Survey for the communication disorders of aphasia and stuttering. This study reports on the impact of post-stroke aphasia on 30 Australian older adults’ HRQOL. It also comments on the capacity of the SF-36 to measure HRQOL in this population, specifically whether it is sensitive to the three known determinants of post-stroke HRQOL – emotional, physical and social functioning. Comparisons with other data are made to assist interpretation of the SF-36 subscale scores: with 75 older adults with no history of neurological conditions; and with data from the 1995 National Health Survey data. The main findings are: (1) adults with post-stroke aphasia have similar HRQOL to their peers on six subscales, but significantly lower Role emotional and Mental health HRQOL; (2) a substantial number of aphasic adults reported depressive mood; and (3) aphasic adults with depressive mood have significantly worse HRQOL on six subscales than aphasic adults without depressive mood, but similar Role emotional and Body pain HRQOL. In conclusion, stroke and aphasia have minimal impact on older adults’ HRQOL as measured by the SF-36, which conflicts with an established evidence base of the negative consequences of aphasia on life. Thus, the SF-36 is not advisable for use with aphasic adults. Implications of these findings for aphasia and stuttering are discussed. Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (a) describe the impact of aphasia and depressive mood on quality of life; (b) compare the impact of aphasia on the quality of life of adults to adults who do not have aphasia; (c) describe the similarities and differences between quality of life of adults with aphasia and adults who stutter; and (d) describe the strengths and limitations of the SF-36 as a measure of quality of life in adults who stutter versus adults with aphasia

A Comparison of Hybrid and End-to-End Models for Syllable Recognition

This paper presents a comparison of a traditional hybrid speech recognition system (kaldi using WFST and TDNN with lattice-free MMI) and a lexicon-free end-to-end (TensorFlow implementation of multi-layer LSTM with CTC training) models for German syllable recognition on the Verbmobil corpus. The results show that explicitly modeling prior knowledge is still valuable in building recognition systems. With a strong language model (LM) based on syllables, the structured approach significantly outperforms the end-to-end model. The best word error rate (WER) regarding syllables was achieved using kaldi with a 4-gram LM, modeling all syllables observed in the training set. It achieved 10.0% WER w.r.t. the syllables, compared to the end-to-end approach where the best WER was 27.53%. The work presented here has implications for building future recognition systems that operate independent of a large vocabulary, as typically used in a tasks such as recognition of syllabic or agglutinative languages, out-of-vocabulary techniques, keyword search indexing and medical speech processing.Comment: 22th International Conference of Text, Speech and Dialogue TSD201