Abstract
Stuttering is a complex disease that influences occupational, social, academic and emotional achievements. The aim of this study was to correlate the stuttering severity index with speaking rates of mothers and children. Cross-sectional study, at the child rehabilitation clinics of Tehran city. 35 pairs of mothers and their children who stuttered were studied. There were 29 boys and six girls, of mean age 8.5 years (range: 5.1-12.0). Speech samples from the mother-child pairs were audiotaped for approximately 15 minutes, until a reciprocal verbal interaction had been obtained. This sample was then analyzed in accordance with a stuttering severity index test and speaking rate parameters. The research results outlined a significant relationship between the mothers speaking rate and their childrens stuttering severity. The results suggest that the mothers speaking rate should be incorporated in the assessment and treatment of stuttering.
Highlights
Stuttering is described as a disorder of fluency and is characterized by part-word, whole-word and phrase repetitions, interjections, pauses and prolongations.1 Perhaps no speech problem has received more attention than stuttering
The results suggest that the mothers’ speaking rate should be incorporated in the assessment and treatment of stuttering
Faster speaking rates among mothers were associated with greater stuttering severity in their children (p < 0.01)
Summary
Stuttering is described as a disorder of fluency and is characterized by part-word, whole-word and phrase repetitions, interjections, pauses and prolongations. Perhaps no speech problem has received more attention than stuttering. The recent advances in imaging techniques have shifted attention to neurological and/or physiological factors for the onset or cause of stuttering, the communication environment that stutterers live in may contribute towards maintaining the stuttering. This communication environment that stuttering children live in may even play an important role in the success or failure of speech therapy. The role of the environment and, in particular, the linguistic and paralinguistic behavior and attitudes of parents have frequently been cited in both theoretical and clinical literature as presenting important correlations with the onset and development of stuttering among young children.. The role of the environment and, in particular, the linguistic and paralinguistic behavior and attitudes of parents have frequently been cited in both theoretical and clinical literature as presenting important correlations with the onset and development of stuttering among young children. Clinical intervention strategies currently used for children who stutter frequently focus on the parents’ role, instructing them to alter their linguistic behavior (e.g. by reducing negative statements regarding their child’s speech and/or stuttering) and their paralinguistic behavior (e.g. by reducing their overall speech rate).24,2637 For example, Guitar and Marchinkoski and others reported that reductions in mothers’ speaking rates resulted in similar reductions in children’s speaking rates and corresponding improvements in speech fluency for some children who stuttered
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