On valid and reliable identification of normal disfluencies and stuttering disfluencies: a response to Aram, Meyers, and Ekelman (1990)
Aram, Meyers, and Ekelman (1990, Brain and Language, 38, 105-121) recently reported finding that children with unilateral brain lesions produced more stuttering-type nonfluencies than their neurologically normal peers. However, they did not report inter- or intrajudge agreement for the nonfluency types or for their method of measuring speech rate. The speech rates they reported were also unusually fast. We argue that these problems with Aram et al.'s study imperil both their results and their conclusions regarding developmental stuttering.
Cordes
A K
AK
Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106.
Gow
M L
ML
Ingham
R J
RJ
D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013342:Stuttering / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*