What is the definition of Fluency?
the aspect of speech production that refers to the continuity, smoothness, rate, and/or effort with which phonologic, lexical, morphologic, and/or syntactic language units are spoken
What is the definition of a fluency disorder?
speech disorder characterized by deviations in continuity, smoothness, rhythm, and/or effort with which phonologic, lexical, morphologic, and/or syntactic language units are spoken
**(you can have fluency disorders that are not necessarily related to stuttering)
What is the definition of disfluency?
refers to breaks in the continuity of producing phonologic, lexical, morphologic, and/or syntactic language units in oral speech.
What is considered “normal disfluency”?
- hesitations or long pauses for language formulation (this is our pause car)
- word fillers-aka pauses (“the color is LIKE green”)
- non-word fillers (“the color UH red”)
- Phrase repetitions (“This is a–this is a problem”)
(** this is all normal except when they occur too frequently or impede our ability to communicate)
What is considered to be “ambiguous disfluency”?
-whole word repetitions (“this is a-better, better solution” “I-I-I want to go)
(**Still considered to be “kind of” normal)
What is considered to be “abnormal disfluency”?
- part word (or sound/syllable) repetitions (“look at the buh-buh-buh-baby”)
- prolongations (“ssssssometimes we stay home”)
- blockages (silent fixations/prolongations or articulatory postures) or noticeable and unusually long, tense/silent pauses at unusual locations to postpone or avoid (“Give me a glass–3 sec pause– of water”)
**And any of the above (normal & ambiguous) categories when accompanied by decidedly greater than average duration, effort, tension, or struggle (&frequency)
What is the definition of stuttering?
refers to a communication disorder related to speech fluency that generally begins in childhood (but occasionally, as late as early adulthood) and to speech events that contain core behaviors and may or may not be accompanied by accessory/secondary behaviors
What are core behavior examples?
- broken words (To—–day is Sunday)
- monosyllabic, whole-word repetitions (I,I,I want to go)
- multisyllabic whole-word repetitions (Today, Today is Saturday)
- Phrase repetitions (I can, I can, be there at ten o’clock)
- Sound Syllable Repetitions (l-lets go at fo-fo-fo-four o’clock)
- sound prolongations (tooooooooday is Sunday)
- Silent fixations or blockages
What do accessory/secondary behaviors include?
-include the entire range of reactions, strategies, “tricks” and avoidance/escape behaviors that stutterers perform either when they stutter or in anticipation of fear of stuttering?
What are some examples of accessory/secondary behaviors?
- avoidance behaviors: not speaking when one wants to, substituting synonyms for feared word or circumlocutions/paraphrasing the intended utterance
- postponement devices: stalling by using non-word or word fillers or simply waiting to attempt to talk (ummmm..)
- timing devices/starters: blinking, coughing, pitch rising
- disguise reactions: covering one’s mouth or faking a cough
- interrupter devices: head jerking, grimacing to release a long block
- searching movements: using schwa or inappropriate vowel or altering the rate of repeated sounds or syllables
- airflow disruption: difficulty initiating airflow and voicing
What are some feelings/attitudes related to stuttering?
- anticipation
- embarrassment
- fear
- frustration
- shame
what are some underlying processes related to stuttering?
- helplessness
- frustration
- classically conditioned fear and avoidance
True or false: the term disfluency does not necessarily imply abnormality
true
what word has “stuttering” been increasingly referred to as?
fluency
ie; a fluency client
What does task force recommend the professional community NOT use?
the term fluency as a diagnosis to refer to stuttering, but to more precisely say or write : a “DIAGNOSIS OF STUTTERING” rather than a diagnosis of disfluency
What reasons are given for using “disfluency” instead of “stuttering”?
- it’s less negative than stuttering
- sounds more scientific or objective than stuttering
- is regarded to be synonymous w/ stuttering
What other communication issues are related to fluency?
- neurogenic stuttering
- psychogenic stuttering
- cluttering
- foreign language learning issues
- other fluency issues
What is neurogenic stuttering?
refers to stuttering, often transient, that begins with, or is maintained as a result of, a specific, identifiable neurological insult or lesion (ie: aphasia, parkinson’s)
What do neurogenic communication disorders refer to?
refer to the perceived natural continuity and rate of a spontaneous speech, even though there may be a substantial number of language disorders (e.g., “fluent aphasic” or “nonfluent aphasic”)
What is psychogenic stuttering?
stuttering that is clearly related to psychopathology
What is cluttering?
a fluency disorder characterized by rapid and/or irregular speech rate, excessive disfluencies, and often other symptoms such as language or phonological errors and attention deficits
What are foreign language learning issues?
-competency or facility in how one uses a language, specifically rate, continuity, rhythm, and effort with which the language is proficiently produced
What are “other” fluency issues?
- rate: Too slow, too fast, appropriate pauses
- effort: related to amount of exertion during speech
- suprasegmental features: rhythm, prosody, melody, and inflection
- prosody: related to syllable stress and intonation
- naturalness: degree to which speech is like normal, native speaker
When assessing stuttering what must we keep in mind? what is the reason behind it?
it is not reliable, it is cyclical and changeable!!!
