Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Successful Aging In Adults Who Stutter: Exploring Predictors Of Physical And Mental Health-Related Quality Of Life, Amanda Kelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to investigate predictors of physical and mental health quality of life in aging adults who stutter (AWS). Our goal was to identify factors contributing to successful aging in this talker group. The aging population is expected to increase exponentially over the next twenty years. Factors influencing self-perceived health-related quality of life have yet to be investigated in aging AWS.

An online survey was completed by a total of 40 AWS, age 50 years and older, recruited from the Greater Tampa Bay region and nationally. The survey comprised multiple measures that probed for information regarding self-perceived health …

Attention Demands Of Language Production In Adults Who Stutter, Nathan D. Maxfield, Wendy L. Olsen, Daniel Kleinman, Stefan A. Frisch, Victor S. Ferreira, Jennifer J. Lister

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Publications

Objective: We investigated whether language production is atypically resource-demanding in adults who stutter (AWS) versus typically-fluent adults (TFA).

Methods: Fifteen TFA and 15 AWS named pictures overlaid with printed Semantic, Phonological or Unrelated Distractor words while monitoring frequent low tones versus rare high tones. Tones were presented at a short or long Stimulus Onset Asynchrony (SOA) relative to picture onset. Group, Tone Type, Tone SOA and Distractor Type effects on P3 amplitudes were the main focus. P3 amplitude was also investigated separately in a simple tone oddball task.

Results: P3 morphology was similar between groups in the simple task. In …

Anticipatory Coarticulation And Stability Of Speech In Typically Fluent Speakers And People Who Stutter, Stefan A. Frisch, Nathan Maxfield, Alissa Belmont

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Publications

This project replicates and extends previous work on coarticulation in velar-vowel sequences in English. Coarticulatory data for 46 young adult speakers, 23 who stutter and 23 who do not stutter show coarticulatory patterns in young adults who stutter that are no different from typical young adults. Additionally, the stability of velar-vowel production is analysed in token-to-token variability found in multiple repetitions of the same velar-vowel sequence. Across participants, identical patterns of coarticulation were found between people who do and do not stutter, but decreased stability was found in velar closure production in a significant subset of people who stutter. Other …

Anticipatory Coarticulation And Stability Of Speech In Typically Fluent Speakers And People Who Stutter Across The Lifespan: An Ultrasound Study, Alissa Joy Belmont

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study uses ultrasound to image onset velar stop consonant articulation in words. By examining tongue body placement, the extent of velar closure variation across vowel contexts provides for the measurement of anticipatory coarticulation while productions within the same vowel context provide measurement of extent of token-to-token variation. Articulate Assistant Advanced 2.0 software was used to semi-automatically generate midsagittal tongue contours at the initial point of maximum velar closure and was used to fit each contour to a curved spline. Patterns of lingual coarticulation and measures of speech motor stability, based on curve-to-curve distance (Zharkova, Hewlett, & Hardcastle, 2011), are …

Outcomes Of A Combined Mindfulness, Stuttering Modification, And Fluency Shaping Intervention For Children Who Stutter, Jennifer Kordell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A week-long intervention for five school-age children who stutter was implemented using techniques of fluency shaping, stuttering management, and mindfulness training. The purpose of this study was to investigate if children who stutter stuttered less frequently, stuttered with less struggle, and demonstrated changes in mindfulness measures after the completion of this week-long intervention. Pre- to post-treatment measures were analyzed by individual and group-level results. A comparative analysis between reading and narrative tasks was also performed. Findings indicate that three out of five children reduced the total number of disfluencies during the reading task, and two children reduced this total during …