Treatment Of Stuttering In Preschoolers With Specific Language Impairment

Abstract

Speech contributes to the development of higher mental functions in children; well-developed speech is considered necessary for harmonious mental development. This is what makes this research relevant. Statistics shows that stuttering is one of the most common, complicated, and long-lasting speech disorders in children. Stuttering children are a diverse population with regard to speech development: stuttering can manifest on top of a general underdevelopment of vocabulary and grammar, often on top of specific language impairment (SLI). Such combinations often compromise the child’s ability to communicate, as developmental language disorder (DLD) jeopardizes the development of communication skills, worsening the speech symptoms and causing paroxysms of stuttering as a result. For diagnostic research, the authors hereof used modified and adapted guidelines by L.I. Belyakova, V.I. Seliverstov, T.A. Fotekova, and A.V. Chulkova, which helped evaluate the development of language and communication skills, and see how far the children had mastered stuttering-free speech. This is a bi-stage study: the introductory stage and the main stage. During the introductory stage, we compared a group of stuttering children and a group of SLI-affected; the finding was that stuttering children were making speech errors characteristic of SLI. The main stage then complemented the symptomatic patterns in stuttering children. This research found out that beside spasms, preschoolers’ speech had the characteristic signs of SLI. This means that the treatment should seek not only to improve oral fluency, but also help such children develop their communication skills applicable to different situations, and enrich their expressivity.