Selected temporal aspects of coordination during fluent speech of young stutterers

The purpose of this study was to compare the onsets, offsets, and durations of respiratory, articulatory, and laryngeal behaviors associated with the perceptually fluent speech of young stutterers (n = 8) to those of their normally fluent peers (n = 8). Simultaneous recordings of the targeted behaviors were made using noninvasive, minimally intrusive instrumentation. Specific temporal parameters of coordination--onsets, offsets, and durations of muscle activity and structural movement--were assessed within a particular component of the speech production system (e.g., onset of lower lip closing relative to lower lip opening muscle activity) as well as between different components (e.g., onset of rib cage deflation relative to onset of vocal fold contact for voicing). Results indicated that there were neither statistically significant nor apparent differences between the perceptually fluent speech of young stutterers and that of their normally fluent peers in terms of selected temporal characteristics of coordination. Findings suggest that the molar temporal characteristics of coordination for young stutterers' fluent speech production(s) are not appreciably different from those of their normally fluent peers and further, any temporal characteristics of stutterers' fluent speech that do differ from normal are probably brief, as well as subtle, in nature.