Fluency Disorders

[Dr. Linton Hutchinson]

The Measurement of Stuttering Behavior Part I of II

How does one define stuttering?

The answer to this question becomes increasingly important when working with a person who stutters. Over the years, research into stuttering has contributed several ways to define the phenomenon better known as stuttering. Here are 3 of the 5 ways to define stuttering behavior. The clinician should become familiar with the advantages and limitations of each method before using them.

1) Frequency of stuttering

This measure is expressed in terms of a number or percentage of moments of stuttered words or syllables.

For example, if John "stutters" on 5 out of 10 words he produces. We can say that John is dysfluent 50% of the time by dividing 5 into 10, we come up with a percentage.

2) Mean duration of stutterings

This measure is expressed in terms of the time (in seconds or minutes) that a stutterer is in a "stuttering block".

For example, If John produced a multiple syllable repetition of the word "dog" and was stuck in that block for 5 seconds. The mean duration of his stuttering would relate to the time that he was repeating "dog" or 5 seconds.

3) Frequency of specified disfluency types

This measure is expressed in terms of the actual number of times the stutterer displays a "stuttering behavior". In order to use this method the clinician should first identify the types of behaviors which constitute stuttering.

For example, multiple syllable repetitions, tense prolongations, etc. Next the clinician will note the actual number of times the stutterer exhibits a syllable repetition, tense prolongation, etc.