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From: Ken St. Louis
Date: 10/2/00
Time: 12:11:23 PM
Remote Name: 157.182.12.51
My opinion is that you could use DAF with very young children if (1) they can tolerate the headset (2) they have a cursory understanding that this will help them learn to talk in a different way, and (3) DAF has been shown to have the salutory effect on their speech that was expected. Basically, if one lets DAF control the rate of one's speech, he/she will end up prolonging syllables (along with talking louder [Lombard Effect] and--sometimes--slurring speech, repeating syllables in multisyllabic words, etc.) The primary benefit seems to come from prolonging the speech, resulting in a slower, more deliberate pattern. This speech pattern, like many that are taught in fluency shaping programs is quite incompatible with the usual stuttering; hence, stuttering often drops out. Adults typically concentrate more on their speech under the influence of DAF. This may not occur consciously with children, but it may not be necessary, so long as the resulting speech is more prolonged and more fluent.