Disfluency Characteristics of Children Aged 4-5 Years Associated with Persistence and Recovery of Stuttering

Anna Bostian, Purdue University

Abstract

Roughly 8% of children will begin to stutter during early speech-language development, typically near the thirty-third month of life. Of these, approximately 75% will naturally recover with or without treatment. Given this, researchers have sought to pinpoint predictive factors which could be used to more accurately identify children at risk for persistent stuttering. Such a measure would allow early intervention resources to be directed toward the children most in need. Studies have suggested all young children who stutter, regardless of eventual status, exhibit a similar profile near onset. However, it has been found that children who will recover experience a decline in the frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies (SLDs) over the two years post-onset, while children who will persist maintain the frequency of their SLDs over the same time period. Although findings have suggested frequency and type of SLD are not predictive factors among preschool-aged children, no research has examined the narrower age range of 4–5 years, ages which often entail decisions regarding intervention services. The objective of this investigation, then, was to determine whether the type, frequency, and proportion of disfluencies among children who stutter, aged 4–5 years, are associated with persistence or recovery of stuttering. Spontaneous speech samples were orthographically transcribed and coded for disfluencies for three longitudinally-followed groups: children who stutter who would eventually persist (n = 19), children who stutter who would eventually recover (n = 29), and children who did not stutter (n = 26; total n = 74). Higher overall frequency of SLDs, higher frequency of each unique type of SLDs—including part-word repetitions, single-syllable word repetitions, and disrhythmic phonations—and greater maximum number of repetition units were all associated with the persistent form of this disorder. The current findings indicate clinical measures of stuttering severity are potentially predictive factors of recovery or persistence of stuttering at ages 4 and 5, and should therefore be considered alongside other potential predictors when making clinical judgments.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Weber, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Speech therapy

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