The modification of speech naturalness during rhythmic stimulation treatment of stuttering.

Full Abstract

This study investigated the modification of speech naturalness during stuttering treatment. It systematically replicated an earlier study (Ingham & Onslow, 1985) that demonstrated that unnatural-sounding stutter-free speech could be shaped into more natural-sounding stutter-free speech by using regular feedback of speech-naturalness ratings during speaking tasks. In the present study, the some procedure was used with three persons who stutter-2 adolescent girls and 1 adult man-during rhythmic stimulation conditions. The two adolescent participants spoke only English, but Spanish was the first and English the second language (ESL) of the adult participant. For the 2 adolescents, it was demonstrated that their unnatural-sounding rhythmic speech could be shaped to levels found among normally fluent speakers without losing the fluency-inducing benefits of rhythmic speech. The findings indicate that speech-naturalness feedback may be a powerful procedure for overcoming a problematic aspect of rhythmic speech treatments of stuttering. However, it was not possible to deliver reliable speech-naturalness feedback to the adult ESL speaker, who also displayed a strong dialect. The study highlights the need to find strategies to improve interjudge agreement when using speech naturalness ratings with speakers who display a strong dialect.

Author information

Author/s: Ingham, R J (RJ); Sato, W (W); Finn, P (P); Belknap, H (H);

Affiliation: Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106, USA. rjingham(-atsign-)humanitas.ucsb.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Case Reports; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR (J Speech Lang Hear Res), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2001-Aug; vol 44 (issue 4) : pp 841-52

Dates: Created 2001/08/27; Completed 2002/01/10; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 11521776, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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