WORD FINAL DYSFLUENCIES AND PALILALIA

The word final dysfluency and palilalia are different issues with communication. When dysfluency occurs at the end of a word, the initial sound is not dysfluency. There are reported word final dysfluency with neurologically based fluency  issues and developmental dysfluency. It has also been reported that these speech interruptions involve plosives with some possibility of repetition of /r/ and fricatives. It is unknown whether a speaker is aware of the repetitions and the recommendation for treatment would have to be made on a case by case basis.

Palilalia is different than word final dysfluency. Palilalia occurs most often with adult neurological such as Parkinson’s Disease. In these cases, palilalia refers to word or phrase repetitions at the end of a verbalization which is produced rapidly with decreasing loudness and intelligibility. The word or phrase repetitions can occur numerous times in a row.

Children can also evidence palilalia in their speech with possible whispering of the repeated words at the end of a verbalization. Palilalia may be observed in children on the autism spectrum and would be categorized as a pragmatic disorder which could be treated by a speech/language pathologist.

When a speech/language pathologist sees a client with the above issues, there may be some difficult diagnostic work needed to determine if the client evidences word final dysfluency or palilalia  including verbal tics, neurogenic causes, Alzheimer’s and other dementias. As with word final dyfluency, treatment for palilalia will depend on each individual, level of awareness, motivation and ability to engage with speech/language therapy.