IFA Congresses

Uniting PWS, PWC, Family and Researcher Perspectives on the Important Research Questions in Fluency Disorders

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Category: Joint World Congress 2018 Proceedings

Nan BERNSTEIN RATNER¹, Hanan HURWITZ², Annie BRADBERRY³, and Kathleen SCALER SCOTT⁴

¹ University of Maryland, College Park This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

² Israeli Stuttering Association This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

³International Fluency Association This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

⁴Misericordia University This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract. There is limited evidence of stakeholder involvement in setting priorities for stuttering and cluttering research. This paper will briefly summarize survey results gathered pre-Congress asking major stakeholders to detail their highest priority research questions, and use these data as a starting point to encourage interaction between researchers and consumers in setting priorities that can encourage funded research and advocacy efforts most meaningful to people who stutter (PWS) and families.

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The Clinical Application of Prosthetic Tactile Pacing on Quantitative Stuttering Severity

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Category: Joint World Congress 2018 Proceedings

Greg SNYDER, Sydney GULLEY, and Elizabeth WYLOT
The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA

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Abstract.  This study tested the effects of a tactile pacing smartphone application on overt stuttering frequency.  A smartphone application was developed by StutterLess LLC that uses the touch screens and vibration motors within Android or iPhone smartphones to provide discreet user-activated vibrotactile pacing.  This study reports data for increased overt fluency of speech in an adult stuttering population, whereby participants spoke concurrently with initiatory tactile pulses (ranging from approximately 0.5 to 1.0 second intervals) originating from a handheld smartphone during speech production.  Participants who stutter used the StutterLess smartphone application for 3 weeks; data was collected on a weekly basis over videoconference.  Results indicate that the StutterLess smartphone application was an effective fluency enhancer for over 60% of research participants; during this 3 week trial, users showed no signs of adaptation to vibrotactile pacing, but instead demonstrated trends toward increased fluency enhancement over time.

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Lexical and Phonological Strategies Used by Adults Who Stutter: An Eye Tracking Study

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Category: Joint World Congress 2018 Proceedings

Kristin M. PELCZARSKI Kansas State University This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract. Empirical evidence suggests that adults who stutter have difficulty completing tasks with nonwords, but perform similarly to non-stuttering adults when real words are used in the same tasks. The current eye tracking study investigates whether adults who stutter use a compensatory lexical access strategy to help bolster a less robust phonological system. Eye tracking and the visual world paradigm can be used to measure basic cognitive processes responsible for speech and reading, and have been successfully used to track both lexical access strategies and phonological strategies.

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Resonant Voice as a Potential Fluency Technique: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

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Category: Joint World Congress 2018 Proceedings

Kristin M. PELCZARSKI¹ and Linda HOAG²

Kansas State University ¹This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.²This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Abstract. This pilot study explored the effectiveness of using resonant voice therapy as a technique to reduce overt characteristics of stuttered speech in adults who stutter (AWS). Upon completion of an 6-week training program, participants were observed to stutter less frequently and reported a perceived reduction in frequency, tension, and duration of stuttered speech. AWS also reported natural-sounding speech when using resonant voice. Despite the perceived fluency benefits, AWS expressed an unwillingness to use the technique after the therapy program was complete. A qualitative analysis of participant comments was completed to further understand what treatment factors are most important to AWS.

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The Source of Stuttering Disclosure, and its Effects on Attitudes Toward Pediatric Stuttering 

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Category: Joint World Congress 2018 Proceedings

Greg SNYDER and Molly Grace WILLIAMS

The University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA

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Abstract.  While research reveals benefits of stuttering disclosure in adults, there is far less data documenting the effects of pediatric stuttering self-disclosure, or the effects of stuttering disclosure by third-party advocates.  The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of stuttering disclosure relative to the perceptions of a child who stutters, particularly when the source of stuttering disclosure is from the child who stutters or adults serving as child advocates.  This study measures the perception of speech skills and personality characteristics of a 12-year-old boy who stutters as a function of the source of stuttering disclosure.  Sources of stuttering disclosure conditions included a: non-disclosure control condition, child self-disclosure, “parent” disclosure, and “teacher” disclosure experimental conditions.  Initial results support the documented benefits of stuttering disclosure when provided by the child who stutters, and also his “teacher”.  Stuttering disclosure from the “mother” generally provided no substantial benefit relative to the perceived speech skills or personality characteristics of the 12-year-old boy who stutters.

Read more: The Source of Stuttering Disclosure, and its Effects on Attitudes Toward Pediatric Stuttering