Acoustic Parameters of Speech and Attitudes Towards Speech in Childhood Stuttering: Predicting Persistence and Recovery

Abstract

The relations between the acoustic parameters of jitter and fundamental frequency and children’s experience with stuttering were explored. Sixty-five children belonging to four talker groups will be studied. Children were categorized as stuttering (CWS) or non-stuttering (CWNS), and were grouped based on their diagnosis of stuttering/not stuttering at two time points in a longitudinal study: persistent stutterers (CWSàCWS), recovered stutterers (CWSàCWNS), borderline stutters (CWNSàCWS), and never stuttered (CWNSàCWNS). The children performed a social-communicative stress task during which they were audio-recorded to provide speech samples from which the acoustic parameters were measured. There were no significant relations between talker group and acoustic parameters, nor were children’s attitudes towards their speech different across talker groups. Therefore, acoustic parameters nor children’s attitudes towards their speech did not determining their prognosis with stuttering.