Another Case of Word-Final Disfluencies

It has commonly been thought that stuttering and related disfluencies do not occur at the end of words. However, word-final disfluencies have been documented in the literature and may be underreported at present. This study investigated word-final disfluencies as they occurred in a 12-year-old boy. Word-final disfluencies constituted the major type of disfluencies in this individual and most often involved repetition of a linguistic unit larger than a singleton consonant. They occurred more frequently on content words than on function words, more frequently on multisyllabic words than on monosyllabic words, and more frequently at the end of a phrase than in initial or medial position. A direct therapy approach, aimed first at identification and then at suppression of the final repetitions, resulted in complete elimination of these repetitions. The origin of these word-final disfluencies and their resemblance to palilalia are discussed.

[1]  Peter Howell,et al.  Facilities to assist people to research into stammered speech. , 2004, Stammering research : an on-line journal published by the British Stammering Association.

[2]  Peter Howell,et al.  The EXPLAN theory of fluency control applied to the diagnosis of stuttering , 2002 .

[3]  J. Borsel,et al.  Repetitions in final position in a nine-year-old boy with focal brain damage , 1996 .

[4]  J. Stansfield.  Word-final disfluencies in adults with learning difficulties , 1995 .

[5]  Y. Lebrun,et al.  Final sound repetitions , 1990 .

[6]  J. Montague,et al.  Acquired stuttering: Descriptive data and treatment outcome. , 1990 .

[7]  S. Camarata.  Final Consonant RepetitionA Linguistic Perspective , 1989 .

[8]  D. Mowrer.  Repetition of final consonants in the speech of young child. , 1987, The Journal of speech and hearing disorders.

[9]  A. Ardila,et al.  Severe stuttering associated with right hemisphere lesion , 1986, Brain and Language.

[10]  Y. Lebrun,et al.  Acquired stuttering following right brain damage in dextrals , 1985 .

[11]  F. Rudmin.  Parent's report of stress and articulation oscillation as factors in a preschooler's dysfluencies , 1984 .

[12]  N. Helm,et al.  Neurogenic acquired stuttering , 1980 .

[13]  N. Helm,et al.  Management of palilalia with a pacing board. , 1979, The Journal of speech and hearing disorders.

[14]  Irving Zieper,et al.  Familial palilalia , 1973, Neurology.

[15]  G. Canter,et al.  Observations on neurogenic stuttering: a contribution to differential diagnosis. , 1971, The British journal of disorders of communication.

[16]  R. C. Oldfield.  SPEECH DISORDERS: Aphasia, Apraxia and Agnosia , 1962 .

[17]  Peter Howell,et al.  Assessment of Some Contemporary Theories of Stuttering That Apply to Spontaneous Speech. , 2004, Contemporary issues in communication science and disorders : CICSD.

[18]  Peter Howell,et al.  The EXPLAN theory of fluency control and the diagnosis of stuttering , 2002 .

[19]  T. Stewart,et al.  Acquired stammering in Great Britain. , 1996, European journal of disorders of communication : the journal of the College of Speech and Language Therapists, London.

[20]  Henny Bijleveld,et al.  A case of acquired stuttering. , 1994, Folia phoniatrica et logopaedica : official organ of the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics.

[21]  G. Blanken.  Linguistic Disorders and Pathologies An International Handbook , 1993 .

[22]  S. Camarata.  Final consonant repetition: a linguistic perspective. , 1989, The Journal of speech and hearing disorders.

[23]  平野 実.  Clinical examination of voice , 1981 .

[24]  W. R. Brain.  Speech disorders : aphasia, apraxia and agnosia , 1965 .

[25]  E. Froeschels.  New viewpoints on stuttering. , 1961, Folia phoniatrica.