These findings support the notion that a self-contained in-the-ear device delivering AAF assists those who stutter. With the device in place, stuttering is reduced and speech produced is judged to be more natural than with out the device.

No abstract

This study investigated stuttering frequency as a function of grammatical word type (i.e., content and function). Ten adults who stutter participated. Participants recited aloud a list of 126 words consisting of an equal number of content and function words, which were presented individually and visually via a laptop computer. Each word belonged to a single grammatical category. Further, words were matched for initial sound and approximate number of syllables. The results indicated that adults who stutter exhibited significantly greater stuttering frequency on content words when presented in isolation (p = 0.018). It was conjectured that the responsible factor contributing to differences in stuttering frequency in adults who stutter resides in word frequency disparities between the two classes of words categories. That is, because the function words are limited in number and are used frequently, repeated use on the part of adults who stutter may lead to a generalized adaptation effect for function words and hence reduced stuttering frequency (as compared with content words).

No abstract

The current findings demonstrate the capabilities of visual speech feedback signals to reduce stuttering frequency that is independent of the speaker's rate of speech. Possible strategies are suggested to transfer these findings into naturalistic and clinical settings, though further research is warranted.