From: Eric
Date: 04 Oct 2012
Time: 13:40:52 -0500
Remote Name: 146.95.58.250
Hi Luc, +++Thanks for your response! The posts we have been getting on this board are what we were hoping for! +++To your first point: Indeed, the definition is not meant to explicate cause, and your suggestion to remove “language and speech” from the definition for that reason is a helpful one. Still, I struggle with calling stuttering exclusively a speech disorder. Nippold’s (2012) review seems to provide more support than evidence against this view. Many of the papers she criticizes (some having valid methodological concerns) point to at least some evidence of differences in language abilities in kids who stutter. Further, it is not unlikely that standardized language assessments miss “subtle” language differences. I am reminded of one study by Pallier et al. (2003) which examined the “replacement” of L1 by L2 in adopted, French-speaking Koreans (adopted at ages 3-8). Behavioral tests in adulthood showed no difference between adopted and native French speakers. fMRI showed similar areas of activation during presentation of French sentences in both the adoptees and natives, but also showed less complete activations in the adopted subjects. It is possible that these “subtle” differences reflected less complete language abilities in the adopted group that were not detected in standardized assessments or informal observation. +++I also question the assertion that stuttering’s core feature is really a “disruption of overt speech production.” Ignoring our assertion (and that of others before this paper) that stuttering can occur in the complete absence of observable features, there remains the question of what speakers are reacting to and trying to avoid or hide: the disruption in overt features, or the underlying events that lead to that disruption? +++To your second point: I agree that the definition needs to better differentiate stuttering from other kinds of disorders. As you mention, this is no easy task—especially when you are trying to be as concise and complete as possible. The de-emphasis of traditional overt features (while including them as examples) was deliberate because of not only the ambiguity of the term “fluency,” but also of the terms “part-word repetition,” “block,” etc. For one quick example, I am often challenged in differentiating between block/silent prolongation OR repetition on words or syllables that begin with plosive sounds. But, this does leave us searching for more salient features of stuttering that we can use while defining the disorder. +++Thanks again for posting, and I look forward to your (or anybody’s) response!