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From: Sandra Merlo
Date: 03 Oct 2008
Time: 12:24:55 -0500
Remote Name: 201.95.203.118
Dear Lisa, thank you for your question. There are several studies that suggest that stuttering is basically a speech rhythm disorder. In the laboratory that I take part at State University of Campinas (Speech Prosody Studies Group, www.experimentalprosodybrazil.org) we are developing a model to explain speech rhythm generation in Brazilian Portuguese. Besides other aspects, the model includes an influence from syntax to speech rhythm. We have initial data that indicate that syntax may really interfere with rhythm generation. We still do not have data about the influence of semantics on speech rhythm. So I think that people who stutter could benefit from syntax and semantics interventions to improve fluency (perhaps not all people who stutter, but a specific subgroup). But we must have more research on these areas and we must be able to identify the subgroup of people who stutter that would benefit from these intervertions. Best regards, Sandra