Fluency/Stuttering
Stuttering
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) defined fluency as the aspect of speech production that refers to the continuity, smoothness, rate, and/or effort with which phonologic, lexical, morphologic, and syntactic language units are spoken. Dysfluency, on the other hand, is defined as a break in the continuity of producing phonologic, lexical, morphologic, and/or syntactic language units in oral speech (ASHA, 1999). What is stuttering? Stuttering affects the fluency of speech. It is defined as an abnormally high frequency and/or duration of stoppages in the forward flow of speech (Andrews & Harris, 1964; Wingate, 1964). It begins during childhood and, in some cases, may last throughout life.
Dysfluencies are disruptions in the production of speech sounds. The individual who stutters often knows exactly what he or she wants to say but is momentarily unable to say it.
Stuttered speech often includes several types of dysfluencies including repetitions of words or parts of words, as well as prolongations of speech sounds.
Speech may become completely blocked or stopped. Blocked speech is when the mouth is positioned to say a sound, with little or no sound actually happening. The person may or may not complete the word after a block.
Interjections such as "uhm" or "like" or "well" can occur also, particularly when they contain repeated ("uh- uhm- uhm") or prolonged ("uuuuhm") speech sounds or when the interjections are used intentionally to delay starting a word the speaker expects to "get stuck on."
Some people who stutter appear to be physically tense or "out of breath" when they are talking. They may have other physical struggles such as eye blinks.
Some examples of stuttering include:
Most treatment programs for people who stutter are "behavioral." They are designed to teach the person specific skills or behaviors that lead to improved oral communication. For instance, many SLPs teach people who stutter to control and/or monitor the rate at which they speak. In addition, people may learn to start saying words in a slightly slower and less physically tense manner. They may also learn to control or monitor their breathing. When learning to control speech rate, people often begin by practicing smooth, fluent speech at rates that are much slower than typical speech, using short phrases and sentences. Over time, people learn to produce smooth speech at faster rates, in longer sentences, and in more challenging situations until speech sounds both fluent and natural.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) defined fluency as the aspect of speech production that refers to the continuity, smoothness, rate, and/or effort with which phonologic, lexical, morphologic, and syntactic language units are spoken. Dysfluency, on the other hand, is defined as a break in the continuity of producing phonologic, lexical, morphologic, and/or syntactic language units in oral speech (ASHA, 1999). What is stuttering? Stuttering affects the fluency of speech. It is defined as an abnormally high frequency and/or duration of stoppages in the forward flow of speech (Andrews & Harris, 1964; Wingate, 1964). It begins during childhood and, in some cases, may last throughout life.
Dysfluencies are disruptions in the production of speech sounds. The individual who stutters often knows exactly what he or she wants to say but is momentarily unable to say it.
Stuttered speech often includes several types of dysfluencies including repetitions of words or parts of words, as well as prolongations of speech sounds.
Speech may become completely blocked or stopped. Blocked speech is when the mouth is positioned to say a sound, with little or no sound actually happening. The person may or may not complete the word after a block.
Interjections such as "uhm" or "like" or "well" can occur also, particularly when they contain repeated ("uh- uhm- uhm") or prolonged ("uuuuhm") speech sounds or when the interjections are used intentionally to delay starting a word the speaker expects to "get stuck on."
Some people who stutter appear to be physically tense or "out of breath" when they are talking. They may have other physical struggles such as eye blinks.
Some examples of stuttering include:
- "W- W- W- Where are you going?" (Part-word repetition: The person is having difficulty moving from the "w" in "where" to the remaining sounds in the word. On the fourth attempt, he successfully completes the word.)
- "SSSS ave me a seat." (Sound prolongation: The person is having difficulty moving from the "s" in "save" to the remaining sounds in the word. He continues to say the "s" sound until he is able to complete the word.)
- "I'll meet you - uhm uhm, you know, like - around six o'clock." (A series of interjections: The person expects to have difficulty smoothly joining the word "you" with the word "around." In response to the anticipated difficulty, he produces several interjections until he is able to say the word "around" smoothly.)
Most treatment programs for people who stutter are "behavioral." They are designed to teach the person specific skills or behaviors that lead to improved oral communication. For instance, many SLPs teach people who stutter to control and/or monitor the rate at which they speak. In addition, people may learn to start saying words in a slightly slower and less physically tense manner. They may also learn to control or monitor their breathing. When learning to control speech rate, people often begin by practicing smooth, fluent speech at rates that are much slower than typical speech, using short phrases and sentences. Over time, people learn to produce smooth speech at faster rates, in longer sentences, and in more challenging situations until speech sounds both fluent and natural.
A wealth of information can be obtained from The Stuttering Foundation: http://www.stutteringhelp.org/