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From: Klaas Bakker
Date: 05 Oct 2005
Time: 21:57:41 -0500
Remote Name: 12.214.28.114
I have been avoiding answering your question for a little while but am very intrigued by it as well. First, addressing your question head on, I am not aware of controlled studies producing incidence and prevalence numbers for covert stuttering, nor ones that make comparisons using such numbers between individuals who demonstrate covert or overt stuttering. There seems to be a built in problem in attempting to quantify covert stuttering, as it asks for measures that are "covert" as well. I think it is an important fact that people who have a covert stuttering problem exist, suffer consequences of the problem, and obviously need help for it. Stuttering modification obviously is not the way, nor is reducing stuttering frequency using behavioral methodologies. What IS the problem in this case is your subjective experience to be a covert stutterer and the way if affects you in your daily life. This could be made measurable through some form of questionnaire which might be given to individuals who stutter overtly as well. To the extent that covert stuttering may be the result of successful avoidance, some measures cover aspects of your problem in that they address degree of avoidance. Other survey measures may determine the relative presence of speech related concerns. These are just some thoughts about the issues but certainly not a complete nor satisfying answer to your question. I think it would be interesting to produce incidence and prevalence estimates for this unique condition, but also to determine that we are dealing with the same problem across individuals who say they have it.