SPPA 5530 Stuttering & Other Fluency Disorders Stephen M. Tasko Ph.D. CCC-SLP Speech Pathology and Audiology Western Michigan University http://homepages.wmich.edu/~stasko/ 1

Stuttering: Organizing Principles for Advanced Characteristics SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 2

Characterizing Advanced Stuttering Dimensions of Stuttering ABC’s of Stuttering Overt Speech Characteristics Physical Concomitants Physiological Activity Affective Features Cognitive Processes Social Dynamics Affective consequences feelings of fear and shame Behavioral consequences changes in communication behaviors Cognitive consequences attitudes and thoughts about communication as well as self concept SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 3

Overt Stuttering Behaviors Repetition Prolongation Block SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 4

Illinois Longitudinal Studies (ILS) Disfluency Classification System Stuttering like disfluencies (SLD) Part-word repetition Phoneme level Syllable level Single-syllable whole word repetition Disrhythmic phonation Prolongation Block/tense pause Other disfluencies (OD) Interjection Multi-syllable word or phrase repetition Revision or abandoned utterance While designed for young children, the classification scheme is useful for identifying and categorizing disfluencies SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 5

Additional Factors to Consider Beyond Disfluency “Type” or “Class” Ward (2006) Severity Frequency Effort/tension Bloodstein (1995) Duration Yairi (1997) Frequency 2-3 times total disfluencies 5-6 times SLD Duration/Severity ↑ proportion of part-word repetitions with ≥ 2 units Clustering of disfluencies 6 times disfluency ‘clusters’ Longer disfluency clusters Rhythm Repetitions with shorter successive interval between units SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 6

Concomitant Behaviors Physical Concomitants include Elevated muscle tension Tremor Extraneous body movements Skin reactions Other Speech Characteristics include Altered speech breathing patterns Speaking at/to very low lung volumes Gasping and speaking on inhalation Vocal abnormalities Glottal fry Falsetto Abnormal intonation patterns Unusual Interjections/Interruptions Excessive pausing Altered speaking rate Bloodstein (1995) Van Riper (1982) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 7

Why do persons who stutter exhibit overt concomitant behaviors? Van Riper had thoughts on this… Overt concomitants can serve as a(n) Avoidance device Postponement device Starting device Escape device Adapted from Van Riper (1963) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 8

Concomitant Behaviors Physiological concomitants Neurophysiological Cardiovascular Biochemical Bloodstein (1995) Van Riper (1982) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 9

Concomitant Behaviors Introspective concomitants Frustration Tension Affective reaction Fear Shame Guilt Development of thoughts and attitudes about stuttering, speaking, and self concept Bloodstein (1995) Van Riper (1982) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 10

Additional anecdotal reports A sense of loss of control of speech structures Feeling of extreme time pressure for communication SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 11

Where does stuttering occur? Linguistic Regularities “Brown’s” Factors (1938)* Phonetic factors Vowels vs. consonants Plosives vs. other sounds Grammatical factors Function vs. content words Word position Initial word in utterance/clause Word length Monosyllabic vs. polysyllabic words * Does not generalize well to younger children SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 12

Where does stuttering occur? Linguistic Regularities Additional factors Utterance length Grammatical complexity Word frequency/familiarity Information load of word Linguistic stress SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 13

Where does stuttering occur? Other patterns Adaptation effect Consistency effect Adjacency effect Expectancy effect SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 14

Where does stuttering occur? Other patterns Factors* to consider Communication partner Communication environment Communication mode E.g. Face-to-face, telephone *highly idiosyncratic SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 15

Examples of conditions that generally diminish frequency of stuttering Novel or atypical speaking patterns Singing or speaking with a melody Monotone speech Reduced speech rate Imitating another person or foreign dialect Whispering (Bloodstein (1995) Yairi & Seery (2011) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 16

Examples of conditions that generally diminish frequency of stuttering Communication situation Speaking to an animal Speaking to an infant Speaking alone Acting in a play Recitations (Bloodstein (1995) Yairi & Seery (2011) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 17

Examples of conditions that generally diminish frequency of stuttering Altered auditory environments Choral speaking Shadowed speech Masking noise Delayed auditory feedback Frequency altered feedback (Bloodstein (1995) Yairi & Seery (2011) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 18

Examples of conditions that generally diminish frequency of stuttering Concurrent or associated activity Swinging arm, tapping foot (external timing/rhythm) Speaking while writing Speaking during demanding physical or mental activity (Bloodstein (1995) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 19

Examples of conditions that generally diminish frequency of stuttering Emotional arousal Extreme emotions Swearing Intense or unusual stimuli Hypnosis Physical distress Intoxication (Bloodstein (1995) SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 20

Conditions that generally diminish frequency of stuttering Why might these conditions affect fluency? SPPA 5530 Stephen M. Tasko 21