Sound Prolongations Research Articles

UNNIGSA: A Unified Neural Network Approach for Enhanced Stutter Detection and Gait Recognition Analysis

Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder characterized by involuntary disruptions or disfluencies in a person's flow of speech. These disfluencies may include repetitions of sounds, syllables, or words; prolongations of sounds; and interruptions in speech known as blocks. This paper introduces Unified Neural Network for Integrated Gait and Speech Analysis (UNNIGSA), methodology that synergizes stutter detection (SD) and gait recognition through a unified neural network architecture. UNNIGSA is engineered to address two distinct yet interrelated challenges: the accurate detection of stuttering for enhanced beneficial interventions and the precise identification of individuals based on gait analysis. The system integrates a global attention mechanism to meticulously highlight salient features within speech patterns, thereby improving the accuracy of stutter classification and offering a potential leap forward in speech therapy practices. Additionally, UNNIGSA incorporates novel data processing techniques to manage the class imbalance prevalent in stuttering speech datasets, resulting in significantly enhanced performance over existing models. The methodology also extends the functionality of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems, fostering greater inclusivity for individuals with speech disorders and enabling their more seamless interaction with virtual assistant technologies. Overall, UNNIGSA sets a new standard in the domains of speech disorder treatment and biometric identification, offering innovative solutions to long-standing challenges and paving the way for more inclusive and secure applications.

Repair in Ghanaian judicial discourse

Abstract Repair is an integral part of every natural human discursive practice due to cognitive anxiety, stress, emotional valence, inability to recover words from one’s mental lexicon, slip of the tongue, among others. This study examined repair in Ghanaian judicial interactions using authentic judicial discourse data and working within the theoretical frameworks of conversational analysis and language and power. Results indicate that repairables include word search, correction proper and misstatements. Repair types included self-initiated self-repair, other-initiated other-repair, other-initiated self-repair, and other-initiated other-repair and self-repair. Linguistic and discourse-pragmatic strategies employed in initiating and carrying out repair include, pauses, sound prolongation, word/expression repetition, and morpho-syntactic and discourse-pragmatic features like yes-no questions, wh-questions, quantifiers, adjectives denoting exactness, pronouns, laughter, supportives, scolding via pejorative utterances, politeness/address forms, and calling on actors to abide by the courts’ moral code. In sum, repair is important on issues relating to understandability and interpretability of what judicial participants say, acceptable modes communication and their impact on facts needed to make cases judicable. Stakeholders in Ghanaian judicial practice and Ghanaian jurisprudence must take note of repair’s un-expendable nature in Ghanaian judicial discourse.

Nonword reading by adults who stutter in a transparent orthography

PurposeUsing word- and nonword-reading passages in Kannada, which has a transparent orthography, we attempted to determine (a) whether orthographic differences between English and Kannada may explain the observed differences in stutter rates on nonwords, and (b) whether longer nonwords, like words, incur higher rates of stutters. MethodsStutters are defined as sound or syllable repetitions, sound prolongations, broken words or nonwords (a pause within a word or nonword), abnormal pauses, and intrusive vowel-like sounds. Twenty-six persons, who stutter, read the word and nonword passages. The nonwords were created by changing the first syllable of each word; otherwise words and nonwords were equivalent in length and syllable structure. Stutters were counted from audio-recordings and statistically analyzed. ResultsPWS stuttered on words in varying amounts and in significantly larger amounts on nonwords. Stutter frequency increased roughly in proportion to the increase in the length of phonological words (previously known) and nonwords (reported for the first time here). ConclusionThe results cannot be attributed to the difficulty of pronouncing nonwords because Kannada orthography has a one-to-one relationship between the written and spoken forms of words. Speech production is a multi-stage process consisting of ideation, lemma selection, phonological word creation, and the articulatory planning and execution. Because nonwords lack meaning and clearly identifiable part of speech, it appears that stutters arise late in the speech production process at the phonological word formation and articulatory planning stages. Meaning, lexicality, and morphosyntax may not contribute significantly to the occurrence of stutters.

Classification of stuttering – The ComParE challenge and beyond

The ACM Multimedia 2022 Computational Paralinguistics Challenge (ComParE) featured a sub-challenge on the classification of stuttering in order to bring attention to this important topic and engage a wider research community. Stuttering is a complex speech disorder characterized by blocks, prolongations of sounds and syllables, and repetitions of sounds and words. Accurately classifying the symptoms of stuttering has implications for the development of self-help tools and specialized automatic speech recognition systems (ASR) that can handle atypical speech patterns. This paper provides a review of the challenge contributions and improves upon them with new state-of-the-art classification results for the KSF-C dataset, and explores cross-language training to demonstrate the potential of datasets in multiple languages. To facilitate further research and reproducibility, the full KSF-C dataset, including test-set labels, is also released.

Determination of regulatory motifs and pathogenicity of intronic variants of GNPTAB, GNPTG, and NAGPA genes in individuals with stuttering

BackgroundStuttering is a fluency disorder typically characterized by part-word repetitions, voiced or voiceless sound prolongations, and broken words. Evidence suggests that 1% of the world population stutters. Compelling evidence from past research suggests that stuttering is caused by non-synonymous coding sites. This study evaluates the intronic regions of GNPTAB, GNPTG, and NAGPA genes for possible pathogenicity of intronic variants from unrelated non-syndromic stutterers in a cohort of the south Indian population.ResultsHigh-throughput sequencing revealed 41 intronic variants. Computational tool Reg-SNP Intron identified three intronic variants rs11110995 A>G, rs11830792 A>G, and rs1001171 T>A of having a plausible pathogenic impact which was identified in 37.9%, 26.5%, and 59.4% of stutterers, respectively. RegulomeDB identified the regulatory motifs and susceptible loci of the intronic variants.ConclusionsThis study imparts the identification, association, and interpretation of pathogenicity and regulatory significance of the intronic variants in the context of the noncoding DNA elements. Future work is warranted to better understand the role of the intronic variants in a larger cohort of stutterers, and a cohort of fluent controls would be valuable.

The Expansion of the Spectrum in Stuttering Disorders to a Novel ARMC Gene Family (ARMC3)

Stuttering is a common neurodevelopment speech disorder that negatively affects the socio-psychological dimensions of people with disability. It displays many attributes of a complex genetic trait, and a few genetic loci have been identified through linkage studies. Stuttering is highly variable regarding its phenotypes and molecular etiology. However, all stutters have some common features, including blocks in speech, prolongation, and repetition of sounds, syllables, and words. The involuntary actions associated with stuttering often involve increased eye blinking, tremors of the lips or jaws, head jerks, clenched fists, perspiration, and cardiovascular changes. In the present study, we recruited a consanguineous Pakistani family showing an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. The exome sequencing identified a homozygous splice site variant in ARMC3 (Armadillo Repeat Containing 3) in a consanguineous Pashtun family of Pakistani origin as the underlying genetic cause of non-syndromic stuttering. The homozygous splice site variant (NM_173081.5:c.916 + 1G > A) segregated with the stuttering phenotype in this family. The splice change leading to the skipping of exon-8 is a loss of function (LoF) variant, which is predicted to undergo NMD (Nonsense mediated decay). Here, we report ARMC3 as a novel candidate gene causing the stuttering phenotype. ARMC3 may lead to neurodevelopmental disorders, including stuttering in humans.

EFFECTS OF PROLONGATION OF SPEECH AND SYLLABLE TIME SPEECH ON REDUCTION OF SEVERITY OF STUTTERING IN STUTTERING PATIENTS

Background: Stuttering is an organic process utterance condition. This utterance condition is broken by prolongation of sounds and repetitions of part words and phrases. Speech constitution strategies facilitate the client to use a new way of oral communication in stutters. Objective: to determine the effects of prolongation of speech and syllable time speech on reduction of severity of stuttering in stuttering patients. Methods This Randomized clinical trial study design was conducted in National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine Islamabad. A total of n=30 participants of both gender having developmental stuttering with age between 20-30 years were included in the study through purposive sampling. The n=30 participants were randomly divided in to Group A received prolonged speech protocol (PSP) and Group B received syllable time speech protocol. The data was collected using the Scale of rating severity of stuttering (SRSS) at baseline, after 6th weeks and after 12th weeks of training. The data was analyzed through SPSS-21. Results The mean age of the study participants was 22±2.05 years. The median number of sibling was 4(2), birth order 2.5(2) and age of onset was 4(1) years. With-in group analysis showed that the group received prolong speech protocol {F=25.24(2), p<0.001} and syllable time speech protocol {F=29.52(2), p<0.001}, both were significantly improved from the baseline to the end of 12th week of intervention as well as at each level of assessment. While comparing the groups, there was significantly large mean difference (MD) of SRSS in group received syllable time speech protocol (2.53±.83 ver 1.73±.59, p=0.005, Cohen’s d=0.72) as compared to group received prolong speech protocol. Conclusion It is concluded that Syllable time speech was effective in reducing severity of stuttering and improving fluency in stutterers. . Key words: Stuttering, stammering, fluency shaping therapy, speech therapy.

Investigation of Dual Task Effect on the Severity of Stuttering in School-Age Children

Objective Stuttering is a speech disorder that occurs with frequent and abnormal disruptions in speech, such as sound repetition, sound prolongation, and sound or airflow blockage. Despite the many theories, the cause of stuttering has not been entirely determined, and various factors have been proposed for its etiology. According to the vicious circle hypothesis, increased speech disfluency results from hypervigilance to speech. This study aimed to measure the effect of reduced attention on speech through verbal and non-verbal dual tasks among school children with stuttering. Furthermore, the effect of dual tasks on the severity of stuttering was investigated among them. Materials & Methods In this cross-sectional study, the participants included 39 children (5 girls, 12.8%) and (34 boys, 87.2%) aged 8-12 years (10.25±1.35) with developmental stuttering selected via convenience sampling from primary schools in districts four and eight and speech therapy clinics in Tehran, Iran. Dual tasks were designed using the Visual Basic program. During the study, four speech samples were recorded for each participant. The second and third samples were designed as a dual task (addition of verbal or non-verbal tasks), while the first and fourth samples were designed as a single task. The participant’s severity of stuttering in each sample was calculated based on the number of stuttered syllables (SS%), and data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software. Given the non-normal distribution of data, the generalized linear model with the Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) and Bonferroni test were used to determine the difference in stuttering severity among speech samples. Results The GEE results showed that the severity of stuttering was different among the four speech samples (P=0.015). The lowest and highest mean stuttering severity among the 39 participants pertained to the non-verbal dual task (14.85) and the single initial task (17.11), respectively. A pairwise comparison of stuttering severity showed that the mean severity in the final single task was significantly lower than in the single initial task (P<0.05). However, mean stuttering severity was not significantly different between verbal and non-verbal tasks (P>0.05). Conclusion The findings showed that stuttering severity reduces when children with stuttering perform dual tasks. In other words, focusing children’s attention on verbal and non-verbal tasks while talking reduced their dysfluency.

Perception of Fluency Therapy of Stutterers by their Parents in Rural Area-comparative Study Based on Group and Severity

Stuttering is a speech disorders which intermittent interruptions of fluent articulation. Stuttering is an impairment of “Speech that is characterized by frequent repetition or prolongation of sounds or syllables or words that disrupt the rhythmic flow of speech“. This study aims to know the perception of parents toward speech/fluency therapy for PWS in rural areas in Gujarat. A closed-ended questionnaire (yes/no) consisting of 20 questions which were develop helps in gathering information in aspects of the perception of client problem, fluency therapy, and availability of therapist, the duration of therapy session, and their comfortability toward therapist, technique effectiveness, and the improvement in the therapy and implementation in daily life. Thirty parents/caregivers of stuttering clients in that the subjects are divided into two groups, that is, Group-A age range of (10–20 years) and Group-B age range of (20–30 years). These two groups are subdivided into three categories with five subjects in each category, that is, mild, moderate, and sever stuttering. The study was conducted to see the level of perception of stuttering and its therapy. Hence, the results suggested that comparison between Group-A and Group-B. In Group-A, responses were better for (mild, moderate, and severe) as compared to the Group-B (mild, moderate, and severe) responses, because as the person grows older the parents involvement that will be less due to that reason younger subjects responses were better as compared to the older subject responses.

White matter tract strength correlates with therapy outcome in persistent developmental stuttering.

Persistent stuttering is a prevalent neurodevelopmental speech disorder, which presents with involuntary speech blocks, sound and syllable repetitions, and sound prolongations. Affected individuals often struggle with negative feelings, elevated anxiety, and low self‐esteem. Neuroimaging studies frequently link persistent stuttering with cortical alterations and dysfunctional cortico‐basal ganglia‐thalamocortical loops; dMRI data also point toward connectivity changes of the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and the frontal aslant tract (FAT). Both tracts are involved in speech and language functions, and the FAT also supports inhibitory control and conflict monitoring. Whether the two tracts are involved in therapy‐associated improvements and how they relate to therapeutic outcomes is currently unknown. Here, we analyzed dMRI data of 22 patients who participated in a fluency‐shaping program, 18 patients not participating in therapy, and 27 fluent control participants, measured 1 year apart. We used diffusion tractography to segment the SLF and FAT bilaterally and to quantify their microstructural properties before and after a fluency‐shaping program. Participants learned to speak with soft articulation, pitch, and voicing during a 2‐week on‐site boot camp and computer‐assisted biofeedback‐based daily training for 1 year. Therapy had no impact on the microstructural properties of the two tracts. Yet, after therapy, stuttering severity correlated positively with left SLF fractional anisotropy, whereas relief from the social–emotional burden to stutter correlated negatively with right FAT fractional anisotropy. Thus, posttreatment, speech motor performance relates to the left dorsal stream, while the experience of the adverse impact of stuttering relates to the structure recently associated with conflict monitoring and action inhibition.

MFCC and Texture Descriptors based Stuttering Dysfluencies Classification using Extreme Learning Machine

Stuttering is a type of speech disorder which results in disrupted flow of speech in the form of unintentional repetitions and prolongation of sounds. Stuttering classification is important for speech pathology treatment and speech therapy techniques which decreases speech disfluency to some extent. In this article, a method for prolongation and repetition classification is presented based on Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) and texture descriptors. Initially, MFCC and filter bank energy (FBE) matrix are computed. Gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and Gray level run length matrix (GLRLM) textural features are extracted from these matrices. Laplacian score-based feature selection approach is employed to choose relevant features. Finally, extreme learning machine (ELM) is utilized to classify the speech audio event as repetition or prolongation. The algorithm is evaluated using UCLASS database and has achieved improved performance with classification accuracy of 96.36%.

Treatment clinical trial - three types - for children with fluency disorders and stuttering.

To present a treatment clinical trial, involving three types of treatment for chronic developmental stuttering (CDS), to verify whether they present indicators and sufficient information to establish an effective and safe benefit-risk relationship. The study included 252 children between 2 and 12 years old, who underwent assessment and treatment for CDS. Among the selected children, 93 met the established inclusion criteria. After obtaining the scores for the risk of CDS (Protocol for the Risk of Developmental Stuttering), all children were assessed according to their fluency profile and the severity level of stuttering. The children underwent treatment for CDS Green, Yellow and Red Programs. The treatment chosen for each child was based on the analysis of the risk for CDS. All therapeutic programs presented positive results in the post-treatment assessment considering the analyzed parameters, with the exception of word repetition, sound prolongation at the end of words, and intrusion of sounds/word segments. The tested therapeutic programs - green, yellow, and red - were efficient for most of the participants. The direct intervention used in the Red Program was highly efficient in promoting fluent speech. This result suggests that for most of the patients with a higher risk of developing the chronic form of stuttering, the use of specific fluency promotion techniques is indicated.

Non-pharmacological interventions for stuttering in children six years and younger

Stuttering, or stammering as it is referred to in some countries, affects a child's ability to speak fluently. It is a common communication disorder, affecting 11% of children by four years of age. Stuttering can be characterized by sound, part word or whole word repetitions, sound prolongations, or blocking of sounds or airflow. Moments of stuttering can also be accompanied by non-verbal behaviours, including visible tension in the speaker's face, eye blinks or head nods. Stuttering can also negatively affectbehavioural, social and emotional functioning. Primary objective To assess the immediate and long-term effects of non-pharmacological interventions for stuttering on speech outcomes, communication attitudes,quality of life and potential adverse effectsin children aged six years and younger. Secondary objective To describe the relationship between intervention effects and participant characteristics (i.e. child age, IQ, severity, sex and time since stuttering onset) at pretest. We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase,PsycINFO, nine other databases and two trial registers on 16 September 2020,and Open Grey on 20 October 2020. There were no limits in regards tolanguage, year of publication or type of publication. We also searched the reference lists of included studies and requested data on unpublished trials from authors of published studies. We handsearched conference proceedings and programmes from relevant conferences. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTsthat assessed non-pharmacological interventions for stuttering in young children aged six years and younger. Eligible comparators were no intervention, wait list or management as usual. We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. We identified four eligible RCTs, all of which compared the Lidcombe Program to a wait-list control group. Intotal, 151 children aged between twoand sixyears participated in the four included studies. In the Lidcombe Program, the parent and their child visit a speech and language therapist (SLT) in a clinic. One study conducted clinic visits by telephone. In each clinic visit, parents were taught how to conduct treatment at home. Two studies took place in Australia, one in New Zealand and one in Germany. Two studies were conducted for nine months, one for 16 weeks and one for 12 weeks. The frequency of clinic visits and practice sessions at home varied within the programme. One study was partially funded by the Rotary Club, Wiesbaden, Germany; and one was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.One study did not report funding sources and another reported that they did not receive any funding for the trial. All four studies reported the outcome of stuttering frequency. One study also reported on speech efficiency, defined as articulation rate. No studies reported the other predetermined outcomes of this review, namely stuttering severity;communication attitudes; emotional, cognitive or psychosocial domains; or adverse effects. The Lidcombe Program resultedin a lower stuttering frequency percentage syllables stuttered (% SS) thana wait-list control group at post-test, 12 weeks, 16 weeks and nine months postrandomization(mean difference (MD) -2.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) -3.48 to -0.84, 4 studies, 151 participants; P = 0.001;very low-certainty evidence). However, as the Lidcombe Program is designed to take one to two years to complete, none of the participants in these studies had finished the complete intervention programme at any of the data collection points. We assessed stuttering frequency to have a high risk of overall bias due to high risk of bias in at least one domain within three of four included studies, and to have some concern of overall bias in the fourth, due to some concern in at least one domain. We found moderate-certainty evidence from one study showing that the Lidcombe Program may increase speech efficiency in young children. Only one study reported outcomes at long-term follow-up.Thelong-term effect of intervention could not be summarized, as the results for most of the children in the control group were missing. However, a within-group comparison was performed between the mean % SS at randomization and the mean % SS at the time of extended follow-up, and showed a significant reduction in frequency of stuttering. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review indicates that the Lidcombe Program may result in lower stuttering frequency and higher speech efficiency than a wait-list control group in children aged up to six years at post-test. However,these results should be interpreted with caution due to the very low and moderate certainty of the evidence and the high risk of bias identified in the included studies. Thus, there is a need for further studies from independent researchers, to evaluate the immediate and long-term effects of other non-pharmacological interventions for stuttering compared to no intervention or await-list control group.

Comprehensive Review of Factors Influencing the Use of Telepractice in Stuttering Treatment.

ObjectivesStuttering is a speech disorder characterized by the repetition of sounds, syllables, or words; prolongation of sounds; and interruptions in speech. Telepractice allows speech services to be delivered to patients regardless of their location. This review investigated factors influencing the use of telepractice in stuttering treatment.MethodsArticles related to the application of telepractice in stuttering were searched using the Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane, and Pro-Quest databases without consideration of any time limit. Initially, 79 articles were found and after application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 articles were selected for the review study. Data were analyzed by using the content analysis method and synthesized narratively.ResultsFactors influencing the use of telepractice in stuttering treatment were categorized into individual, technical, clinical, and economic factors. Providing access to healthcare services, maintaining personal privacy, and allowing flexibility in arranging appointments were among individual factors. In terms of the technical factors, technical problems and Internet speed were addressed. Clinical factors were divided into positive and negative outcomes, and economic factors were mainly related to time and cost savings.ConclusionsAlthough patients may benefit from using telepractice, the widespread adoption of this technology can be hindered by some technical and non-technical factors. Because telepractice can be employed as a complementary method to treat stuttering, more attention should be paid to the required infrastructure and factors that may negatively impact the use of this technology.

Multimodal conduct in the law: Language, gesture and materiality in legal interaction by Gregory Matoesian and Kristin Enola Gilbert

Reviewed by: Multimodal conduct in the law: Language, gesture and materiality in legal interaction by Gregory Matoesian and Kristin Enola Gilbert Elizabeth Mertz Multimodal conduct in the law: Language, gesture and materiality in legal interaction. By Gregory Matoesian and Kristin Enola Gilbert. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. 262. ISBN 9781108402866. $33.99. In this impressive volume, Gregory Matoesian and Kristin Enola Gilbert provide the field of law-and-language studies with an important set of analytic tools, insisting that systematic study of multimodal conduct be integrated into research on legal communication. In particular, M&G focus on modes of communication such as gesture, gaze, posture, movement, and speakers' interactions with physical objects—modes that have not received as much attention within language-and-law research as has legal language in a more traditional conception. For scholars who are unfamiliar with studies of multimodal conduct, the book offers a rigorous but accessible introduction to the field, along with sophisticated analyses of legal interactions demonstrating the value of the authors' approach. For linguists, sociolinguists, and linguistic anthropologists more generally, the volume offers an inventive entry in the growing literature integrating multimodal analysis into microanalysis of linguistic exchanges—and the macroanalysis of language within institutions. For those interested in research on legal language, this study advances the field through its comprehensive vision of how we can incorporate multimodal analysis into existing paradigms. One of the big problems with incorporating multimodal conduct into our studies of linguistic exchanges in general—and courtroom discourse in particular—is the sheer volume of that kind of conduct. As M&G amply demonstrate, every second of our interactions with each other contains multitudes. It was already challenging enough to perform detailed analyses of language in legal [End Page 425] and other settings, without adding this avalanche of additional data. It has been common in sociolinguistic, linguistic anthropological, conversation-analytic, and other forms of detailed language research to include in our transcripts a smattering of audible features (see e.g. Hirsch 1998, Matoesian 2001, Richland 2008). Examples include notations for pauses, sound prolongation, emphasis, loudness, overlapping or cut-off speech, and so on. In that tradition, analyses of short sequences of talk can take whole chapters. Now imagine adding to those analyses and transcripts the dense thicket of gesture, gaze, shifts in body position, movement, and more! In this volume, to give one small example, the authors introduce a series of symbols just to capture aspects of one kind of gesture ('beat gestures'; see p. xii). In addition, they use pictures and descriptions to fill in details of the multimodal conduct under scrutiny. So in light of the fact that dissecting a brief interaction in this way can occupy entire chapters, readers could understandably worry about the book moving randomly all over the map as it dives into small bits of much longer interactions. Instead, M&G offer a set of analyses organized around an exacting theoretical framework as they highlight particular instances of multimodal conduct in a single trial. The selection of examples is methodical and systematic. This is an exciting development for law-and-language analysts who seek to integrate unquestionably important multimodal aspects of communication into their research. As the authors note, there is a significant literature in the field of gesture studies, in addition to growing bodies of research in other areas pertinent to multimodal analysis. However, 'the study of gesture (as it integrates other modal forms) is conspicuously absent in language and law research', and 'the study of legal interaction is largely absent in the field of gesture studies' (xi). Their welcome intervention seeks to remedy those notable gaps. The book is divided into three sections. Part I uses studies of multimodal conduct to uncover microlevel processes through which participants negotiate identity in court. This turns out to be very important in everything from establishing expert witnesses' authority to battles over gender inequality—and, one suspects, other forms of social hierarchy—within legal settings. Part II turns to issues of motivation, control, and credibility as they play out in trial practice within a dense thicket of multimodal interchanges. These are layered over the...

Comparison of Disfluent and Ungrammatical Speech of Preadolescents with and without ASD

This paper analyses disfluencies and ungrammatical expressions in the speech of 11–13-year-old Finnish-speaking boys with ASD (N = 5) and with neurotypical development (N = 6). The ASD data were from authentic group therapy sessions and neurotypical data from teacher-led group discussions. The proportion of disfluencies and ungrammatical expressions was greater in the speech of participants with ASD (26.4%) than in the control group (15.5%). Furthermore, a qualitative difference was noted: The ASD group produced long, complex disfluent turns with word searches, self-repairs, false starts, fillers, prolongations, inconsistent syntactic structures and grammatical errors, whereas in the control group, the disfluencies were mainly fillers and sound prolongations. The disfluencies and ungrammatical expressions occurring in the ASD participants’ interactions also caused comprehension problems.

Japanese Listeners’ Judgments of Prolongations: With Focus on the Effect of Phonemic Length Contrast

Purpose: This study examined 1) what the absolute minimal duration of the lengthened Japanese sounds /s/, /ss/, /i/, and /i:/ are that are perceived to be abnormal by native speakers of Japanese; 2) what the relative ratio of a stimulus sound’s original length to its absolute perceptual threshold is; 3) whether differences are observed between short and long fricatives and between short and long vowels; and 4) whether phonemic length contrast affects the perceived abnormality of lengthened speech sounds.Methods: Twelve native speakers of Japanese (2 males, 10 females) listened to the Japanese sounds /s/, /ss/, /i/, and /i:/, each of which was lengthened by 0–400 ms in 20 ms increments. The participants rated whether the sound was normal (0) or abnormal (1). The minimal duration for each lengthened sound to be perceived as abnormal by the participants was calculated by analyzing the receiver operating characteristic curves using Youden’s index.Results: The minimal prolongation duration to be perceived as abnormal was 70 ms for /s/, 130 ms for /ss/, 70 ms for /i/, and 170 ms for /i:/. The percentage increases in duration required to be perceived as abnormal were 106% for /s/, 129% for /ss/, 117% for /i/, and 138% for /i:/.Conclusion: Phonemic length contrast affects the minimal prolongation duration and the percentage increase thresholds at which Japanese listeners perceive speech sounds as abnormally long. The implications of these results were further discussed within a diagnostic context of sound prolongation as one of core behaviors of stuttering.

Current Aspects of Speech Disfluency Research: Scientific Review of the International Workshop DiSS 19 (Budapest) Issues

Disfluency in spontaneous speech is currently a subject of study of specialists working in different fields of knowledge. Different external manifestations of disfluency (hesitation pauses, sound prolongations, pause fillers, articulatory perseverations and lexico-grammatical repetitions, self-corrections, breaks, nonverbal means of information transfer, etc.) are being investigated. They turn out to be a convenient tool for revealing and monitoring the peculiarities of cognitive processes with the help of explicit clearly registered signals occurring in speech under the influence of a number of extralinguistic factors such as the communicative situation, the type of speech (monologic or dialogic), the language of communication (L1 or L2), the emotional state of the speaker, the age, the social status, the diseases impairing speech and mental activity, and others. Further investigation of disfluency makes it possible to solve both a number of fundamental problems connected with modeling of cognitive coding and decoding speech processes and applied tasks connected with adoption of research findings in such fields as developmental pedagogy, psychology, medicine, foreign language training, translation, automatic recognition of speech signal, etc. Up to now, a sufficient number of empirical investigations have been carried out providing a basis for working out particular models which will make it possible, in the long run, to create the overall model of disfluency in spontaneous speech. Conferences and workshops undoubtedly play an important role in uniting the efforts of specialists in this sphere. One of them is the international workshop “Disfluency in Spontaneous Speech (DiSS)” that was first held in 1999. The current problems that were discussed by the participants of the workshop (production and perception speech models, age and clinical factors of disfluency, special difficulties in foreign speech production, including translation, speech technology) may be a useful reference point for researchers working on the issue.

Prolonged Migraine Stuttering Aura: Structural, Functional, and Video Neuroimaging Study of an Atypical Migraine Aura. A Case Report

Stuttering is a disorder in the rhythm of speech characterized by an involuntary repetition, prolongation, and cessation of sounds. Neurogenic acquired stuttering is a very rare disorder which could result from different conditions with the involvement of several brain locations. A 16-year-old male presented to our Hospital with headache associated with blurred vision followed by right-sided facial and upper limb tingling, clumsiness of right arm, and a complete inability to formulate language which evolved in the next minutes into an intense speech disorder characterized by persistent stuttering. Urgent brain magnetic resonance imaging showed a prominence of venous vasculature in left hemisphere in susceptibility weighted imaging sequence. A fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography revealed a bilateral occipital, temporal, and parietal hypometabolism. With the suspicion of migraine aura, analgesic treatment was administered. Symptoms progressively resolved inside 10hours. Five months later he experienced a similar episode. This case report represents a diagnostic challenge and suggests the inclusion of stuttering within the neurological manifestations of higher cortical dysfunction that can be found as a result of migraine aura.

An Analysis of Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Children and Adolescents Diagnosed with Childhood Onset Speech Fluency Disorder (Stuttering)

Objective: Childhood onset speech fluency disorder (stuttering) is a communication disorder beginning in childhood, and is characterised by interruption to speech flow, sound prolongations and pauses produced by repetition of a particular sound or word. The aim of this study was to investigate the sociodemographic characteristics, comorbid psychiatric diagnoses and other variables that are associated with stuttering.