Disfluency data of German preschool children who stutter and comparison children.
This study compared the disfluencies of German-speaking preschool children who stutter (CWS, N = 24) with those produced by age- and sex-matched comparison children who do not stutter (CWNS, N = 24). In accordance with Yairi and Ambrose's [Yairi, E., & Ambrose, N. (1992). A longitudinal study of stuttering in children: A preliminary report. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 35, 755-760] guidelines the CWS group had a narrow age range (2-5 years) and were seen close to the reported time of their stuttering onset (average of 8 months). Furthermore, over 95% of the CWS group had not received any type of speech therapy intervention. Consistent with previous findings for English-speaking preschool children, 'stuttering-like' disfluencies (prolongations, blocks, part- and one-syllable word repetitions) were significantly more frequent in CWS (mean = 9.2%) than in CWNS (mean = 1.2%), whereas no significant group differences occurred with respect to 'normal' disfluencies. The number of iterations in stuttering-like disfluencies was also significantly higher in CWS (mean = 1.28 iterations) than in CWNS (mean = 1.09 iterations). In contrast to previous findings, a sub-group of children who have been stuttering for a shorter time (1-5 months) did not differ from a sub-group who had stuttered for a longer period (8-22 months).


OBJECTIVE
The reader will be able to: (1) describe how German-speaking preschool children who stutter and who do not stutter display stuttering-like and normal disfluencies including number of iterations; (2) explain how powerful classification measures for the diagnosis of stuttering are for German-speaking preschool children; (3) discuss how disfluency patterns of native English- and German-speaking children close to onset of stuttering differ.
Natke
Ulrich
U
Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. ulrich@natke.info
Sandrieser
Patricia
P
Pietrowsky
Reinhard
R
Kalveram
Karl Theodor
KT
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013342:Stuttering / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior