Exploring the speech disfluencies in 3-6 year-old stuttering and nonstuttering Turkish speaking children

Anadolu University- The Institute of Health Sciences, September, 2005Advisor: Doç. Dr. Dilek ErbaşThe purpose of this study was to investigate the speech disfluencies of three to six year-oldstuttering and non-stuttering children, and to determine if the types of speech disfluenciesshow statistically meaningful differences according to the age and sex variables.The study group includes 40 children between the age of three to six year old. Participantswere taken from Altınkız Kindergarten in Eskişehir and Su Kindergarten in stanbul. Childrenwho applied to Anadolu University, D LKOM Education, Research and Training Center forSpeech and Language Disorders, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Hearing and SpeechRehabilitation Center and Ozgem Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation Center in Istanbul forstuttering problems were included as well. The speech samples of the study group werevideotaped with permission from parents. After they were transcribed, the amount of totaldisfluencies was determined in the speech samples of 600 syllables. The speech samples werereanalysed to determine the disfluency types and the secondary behaviours of children.As a result of this study, total disfluencies were found significantly higher in stutteringchildren than non-stuttering children. There was no relationship found between disfluency typesand gender in stuttering children. Disfluency types such as blocks and abnormal breathingpatterns were only found in stuttering children. Although other disfluency types were found inboth groups, the frequency of repetitions and prolongations were seen mostly in stutteringchildren. When examining the frequency of secondary behaviours in stuttering children, itwas discovered that 50% of stuttering children have secondary behaviours. When comparingstuttering children to non-stuttering children, 45% of stuttering children have stutteringrelatives. Only 5% of non-stuttering children?s relatives carry the stuttering.The findings of this research show that, making a decision between normal disfluencies andstuttering is difficult. Also, some kinds of attributes should be considered a sign for stuttering.Through the results above children who have types of disfluencies such as blocks, abnormalbreathing patterns, secondary behaviours and a relative who stutters has a chance thatstuttering will remain permanent. Therefore, early intervention should be considered usefulfor children who show these characteristics.