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From: Brian Humphrey
Date: 10/6/01
Time: 6:08:40 PM
Remote Name: 65.33.237.204
Hello, Jim!
Thanks for indicating that you are in Australia. I really enjoy the international nature of this online conference. I am pleased to know that you are thinking of working toward increased control of your blocks, and I wish you every success.
Thanks also for your observation that you and your son appear to share particular patterns of dysfluency. A detailed comparison of your patterns with his could be very interesting.
It may help to clarify that Camarata did not view his two-year-old subject as dysfluent. Here is a bit of background information: Camarata was studying how young children learn language, and the boy was participating in a study that Camarata was conducting. Camarata noticed the boy’s repetitions at the ends of words, and asked the boy’s mother about them. She had been unaware of his word-final repetitions.
Camarata did not see strain or struggle behaviors that would be associated with stuttering. After studying the boy's final sound repetitions, Camarata concluded that he was probably not dysfluent, but instead had a different rule system for pronouncing speech sounds. He viewed the boy’s final sound repetitions as a phonological error process.
Phonological error processes are quite commonly observed in very young children. An example of a more common phonological error pattern would be a young child who tries to say, [Come here, cat], but instead says “Tum here, tat.” As most young children develop, they typically correct their own rules for pronunciation, according to the norms for their community.
Here is another bit of information that is needed for our discussion; perhaps it is information that you already have: In English, /p/ and /b/ are produced exactly the same way, with one exception: we use our vocal cords to produce /b/, and we do not use our vocal cords to produce /p/. The same can be said for /t, d/ and /k, g/. So, /p, t, k/ are "unvoiced", and /b, d, g/ are "voiced". When we make unvoiced sounds, we keep our vocal cords apart so that air can easily flow through. When we make voiced sounds, we bring our vocal cords together so that when we exhale, our vocal cords vibrate against each other.
Camarata thought that two-year-old subject may have “made up” his own rule for marking the difference between voiced and unvoiced sounds. However, in the account that you have offered about your stuttering pattern and your son’s stuttering pattern, it appears that you both knew the correct pronunciation rules. For you or your son, physically using or not using the vocal cords may be a significant factor.
If you or your son experience heightened tension in the throat area during moments of stuttering, that tension probably affects the vocal cords. During a moment of increased laryngeal tension, such as may occur during a block, there may be a tendency for the vocal cords to come together, so that a /p, t, or k/ at the beginning of a word could sound like a /b, d, or g/. On the other hand, if you or your son use a strategy of exhaling a tiny bit before you engage your vocal cords (often called an airflow technique), then a /b, d, or g/ at the beginning of a word or phrase could sound like a /p, t, or k/. Over time, anticipation of stuttering on certain sounds could develop. Do any of these speculations seem consistent with your experience or the experience of your son?