Articulation, language, rate, and fluency characteristics of stuttering and nonstuttering preschool children

Articulation (Arizona Articulation Proficiency Scale), language (TOLD, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), and fluency (Fluency Interview) tests were given to 20 stuttering and 20 nonstuttering male and female preschool children to examine potential performance differences between the two groups. Speaking rate was also measured. There were several significant but minor differences between the two groups. The stuttering children scored lower on seven out of eight language measures than the nonstuttering children and slightly lower than the average score for their age group when compared with the tests' normative samples. Girls demonstrated higher language scores and faster speaking rates. There were no differences between the stuttering and nonstuttering groups on articulation proficiency, although 25% of the stuttering group (all boys) later required articulation treatment. There were few statistically significant correlations between measures of stuttering rate, speaking rate, and language performances within each of the two groups of children, although there were consistent, low-to-moderate negative correlations between stuttering rate and language measures and low positive correlations between speaking rate and language measures. A stepwise regression analysis suggested that selected variables of language proficiency combined with speaking rate were at best moderately predictive (R = .52) of stuttering behavior for the total group of children.