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From: Brian Humphrey
Date: 10/5/01
Time: 2:16:18 PM
Remote Name: 137.52.99.79
Hi, Judy! You asked if I/we had reviewed the psychological disorders literature, especially in reference to the "trolley - olley" symptom. That's a good suggestion. Did you have particular psychological disorders in mind? I reviewed movement disorders literature, which included Tourette's syndrome, but not the psychological disorders literature per se. Your question brings to mind some descriptions of schizophrenic speech and language that I have run across, but I suspect that there may be differences in the factors that may promote and maintain B.B's speech vs schizophrenic speech or echolalic speech, for example.
I saw nothing about B.B. that suggested a psychological or mental disorder like schizophrenia, a psychosis, or a disorder on the autism spectrum, so I wasn't thinking along those particular lines. B.B.'s final word repetitions did not remind me of echolalic speech, or sound or word associations that I associate with such disorders. There was no behavioral evidence that B.B. was at all aware of his repetitions, and he denied awareness when I discussed my findings with him. He acted surprised when I showed him a videotape of one of his conversations. Although his word-final dysfluencies could be characterized as complex motor behaviors, they did not give me an impression of being cognitively driven.I'll try to add a couple of other thoughts later, and I'll check in with John about your question.