LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 12 December 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Speech Naturalness of Recovered and Relapsed Persons with Stuttering Following Treatment

Pravesh Arya, M.Sc. (SLP), Ph.D. Candidate
Geetha Y.V., Ph.D. (Speech and Hearing)

Abstract

Relapse is an ever-present concern for those in recovery from stuttering, and also for the professionals who treat them. Recovery can be defined as the restoration to a former or better condition whereas Relapse is defined as the recurrence of symptoms after a period of improvement (Webster, 1979). The main aim of the present study was to provide a preliminary data, comparing the speech naturalness of recovered and relapsed persons with stuttering (PWS) following treatment.

The participants (age range 18 to 38 years) were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria and were asked to report after 3 months and 6 months post treatment follow-up evaluations. A total of twenty two participants reported after 3 months and nineteen participants reported after 6 month post treatment follow-ups.

Spontaneous speech samples were collected using audio/video recording of the participant during the evaluations. Multidimensional speech naturalness scale (Kanchan, 1997) and recorded speech samples were provided to three judges i.e., experienced speech and language pathologists (SLPs). The judges were asked to analyze and perceptually rate the naturalness of provided speech samples on the basis of different speech parameters given in the scale. Results of the present study showed a significant difference between recovered and relapsed group of persons with stuttering following treatment across different speech parameters.

The present study concludes that recovered persons with stuttering showed a perceptually more natural sounding speech across all the parameters as compared to relapsed persons with stuttering following treatment.

Keywords: Speech naturalness, Recovery, Relapse, Perceptual scale

Aspects of Stuttering

Stuttering is a complex speech disorder with a variety of dimensions and it has been defined as having discontinuous, effortful and relatively slow rate of speech. Disruptions in continuity and rate are considered to affect the naturalness of speech in addition to articulation and intonation patterns (Starkweather, 1980). The acceptable speech quality in stuttering therapy determines the treatment outcomes. Therefore, it becomes very important to assess the naturalness of speech in persons with stuttering (PWS) who attain recovery after treatment and whether he/she is able to maintain the naturalness in long-term follow-up. In general, recovery can be defined as the restoration to a former or better condition, and it could be with or without formal treatment. Williams (2006, p. 9) stated that “Some people stop overt disfluencies as a result of therapy, although they constantly monitor their speech in order to remain fluent.” For some still unknown reasons, short term mastery of program goals by PWS does not always lead to long term application and lead to relapses. Relapse is defined as the recurrence of symptoms after a period of improvement (Webster, 1979). In other words, relapse is defined as a return of considered symptoms that therapy either had replaced or brought under control.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Pravesh Arya, M.Sc. (SLP), Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Speech Language Sciences
All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH)
Naimisham Campus, Manasagangothri
Mysore- 570006
Karnataka, India
Pravesh_arya_here@yahoo.co.in

Geetha Y.V., Ph.D. (Speech and Hearing)
Professor, Department of Speech Language Sciences
All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH)
Naimisham Campus, Manasagangothri
Mysore 570006 Karnataka, India
geethayelimeli@gmail.com

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