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Biomedical subjects

E Yairi

Publications and source records attributed to E Yairi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Temporal relations within repetitions of preschool children near the onset of stuttering: a preliminary report.

The purpose of this study was to compare duration characteristics of single repetitions of single-syllable words in the speech of preschool children who stutter (N = 15) recorded near the onset of their stuttering to those of control nonstuttering children (N = 18). Disfluent episodes were identified in audio tape recordings of the subjects' conversational speech. The digitized signals were analyzed by means of the CSpeech computer software (Milenkovic, 1987). Using visual displays of the sound-pressure waveforms, as well as spectrography, the durations of the first production of the word (1st Unit), the second production (2nd Unit), the silent interval, and the total disfluency were measured. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups on any of these segments although there was a tendency for the stutters to exhibit shorter silent intervals between repeated units. Relative measures, however, indicated that the ratio of the 2nd Unit to the total disfluency was significantly larger for the stutterers than the controls. For both groups, the ratio of the 1st to the 2nd Unit was positive, that is, the first production of the word was longer than the second. There was also a tendency for the ratio of the silent interval to total disfluency to be smaller for the stutterers. Overall, there appears to be a tendency for repetitions of very early stutterers to be faster than repetitions of nonstuttering children.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1993

The early months of stuttering: a developmental study.

Objective data on the development of stuttering during its first several months are sparse. Such a deficit is due to parents' tendency to postpone professional consultation regarding early stuttering until later in the course of the disorder and to a lack of longitudinal studies beginning close to onset. This report presents information on a rare group of 16 preschool subjects who were evaluated within several weeks after stuttering onset and followed for 6 months using multiple measures. The findings show that often early stuttering takes on a moderate-to-severe form. Substantial changes occurred, however, during the 6 months of the study, with a strong tendency for reduction in stuttering-like disfluencies, number of head/face movements, clinician severity ratings of stuttering, and parent ratings of stuttering. Several subjects, including severe cases, exhibited complete recovery. The large changes that occur during the early stage of stuttering suggest that relatively small differences in the length of post-onset interval (stuttering history) can greatly influence all research data of early childhood stuttering. The high, as well as fast, improvement rate suggests that the precise timing of early intervention should be conscientiously evaluated in carefully controlled studies.

Child Development↗
PubMed1993

Genetic aspects of early childhood stuttering.

Although stuttering has long been acknowledged as a familial disorder, the nature of a genetic component remains unclear. Most previous data used in genetic studies were obtained primarily from adults who stutter and may be biased in several respects. The purpose of this investigation was to quantify the frequency of stuttering in relatives of preschool-age children who stutter, and who were first seen close to the onset of the disorder. Detailed pedigrees (family trees), including first-, second-, and third-degree relatives, were obtained from parents of 69 children who stuttered. We found, as have previous studies, that more male than female relatives ever stuttered, but that female subjects who stuttered had more female relatives who ever stuttered than did male subjects. In order to identify the genetic model most consistent with the observed patterns of stuttering transmission, we conducted segregation analyses. Results from these analyses suggest that transmission of a single major genetic locus increasing the liability to stuttering best accounts for the transmission of stuttering in families of preschool-age children who stutter.

Child↗
PubMed1992

A longitudinal study of stuttering in children: a preliminary report.

The objectives of this pilot study were to establish methods for longitudinal research of stuttering in children and to provide preliminary data on the variations that occur in disfluencies during the developmental course of stuttering. Twenty-seven preschool-aged children were followed for a minimum of 2 years shortly after they began stuttering. Tape-recorded speech samples were obtained from the children at several intervals during this period. The number of various types of disfluencies was counted in the speech samples obtained in each testing period. Twenty-one children continued to be followed for varying periods of up to 12 years. Eighteen of the 27 subjects received a few speech treatment sessions during the initial period of the study, whereas 9 children did not receive direct treatment. Results indicated that for the two subgroups there was a marked deceleration over time in the mean frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies. Individual subjects' data showed considerable variability in the longitudinal development of disfluency but most subjects followed the patterns of the group means. Much of the reduction took place during the early stage of the disorder, especially near the end of the first year post-onset. There were indications that group differences between chronic and recovering stutterers become distinct by approximately 20 months post-onset.

Child↗
PubMed1992

Onset of stuttering in preschool children: selected factors.

This investigation provides updated information on the onset of stuttering, explores variations in the onset, and studies possible relationship of stuttering onset to the factors of age, gender, familial history, severity, and stress. Data were obtained for 87 preschool children through parent interviews, using a standardized questionnaire. Interviews were conducted within 12 months after the disorder was first diagnosed. Results for selected items indicated that onset tended to occur at an earlier age than was previously thought and was sudden and/or severe in a substantial number of cases. Physical or emotional stress and familial histories of stuttering were reported for many of the participating children. A significant gender factor was found. About twice as many boys as girls stuttered and girls began stuttering at a significantly earlier age. There was a positive relationship between severe stuttering and sudden onset. Several other tendencies for relationship between factors were either weak or not significant for the present sample size. The findings are discussed with special reference to the possible relationship between stuttering onset and maturational processes and the possible contribution of data on onset to the differentiation of stutterers.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1992

Fundamental frequency, jitter, and shimmer in preschoolers who stutter.

This investigation examined acoustic correlates of phonatory control in the speech of 10 preschool-aged boys who were stutterers (mean age = 45 months) recorded relatively close to the time of stuttering onset and in the speech of 10 boys who were nonstutterers (mean age = 46 months). For each subject, acoustic measurements of fundamental frequency, jitter, and shimmer were extracted from the 100 msec midportion of 30 vowels selected from fluent utterances in spontaneous speech. Significant differences between the two groups for shimmer measures are among the few positive findings in recent publications concerning the fluent speech of children who stutter.

Child Language↗
PubMed1988

Clustering of disfluencies in the speech of stuttering and nonstuttering preschool children.

Cluster formation in speech disfluencies of 15 preschool stuttering children and an equal number of nonstuttering control subjects was studied and compared. Clustering was defined as the occurrence of two or more disfluencies on the same or adjacent words. A computer program, based on the Monte Carlo method, was used to generate sets of expected numbers of single disfluencies and disfluencies in various cluster sizes according to simulation models. Results indicate that disfluencies occurred in clusters more often than could have been expected by chance for both groups. The proportions of clustered disfluencies, as well as the size of clusters, in the speech of the stutterers were significantly greater than those of the nonstuttering subjects.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1984

Disfluencies at the onset of stuttering.

This study describes disfluencies in rare speech samples obtained from young children in temporal proximity to their stuttering onsets. Ten 2 and 3 year olds diagnosed by parents to have begun stuttering for periods of 2 months or less and 10 matched normally speaking children served as subjects. Analyses of spontaneous speech indicated that stutterers were three times more disfluent than nonstutterers. Part-word repetitions and sound prolongations were found to distinguish the two groups significantly. Stutterers were also found to have significantly more repetition units per instance of disfluency than control subjects. Theoretical and practical conclusions are discussed.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1983

The onset of stuttering in two- and three-year-old children: a preliminary report.

Data on the onset of stuttering in 22 children 2 and 3 years of age were obtained through systematic parent interviews using a coded questionnaire. All children were reported to have begun stuttering prior to 36 months of age. The results indicated more similar sex distribution and greater diversity in manner of onset than was reported in past investigations. Most parents perceived early stuttering to be associated with some degree of tensions and force. The length of syllable and word repetition as reported appeared to be above the average for normally disfluent children of similar ages. Directions for future research of early childhood stuttering and clinical implications of the data are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1982

Longitudinal studies of disfluencies in two-year-old children.

Spontaneous speech samples of 500 words were recorded three times at 4-month intervals from 33 normally speaking children. A fourth speech sample was recorded from the 13 youngest children in the group after an additional 4-month interval (one year after the beginning of the study). There were indications in the data that the peak number of speech disfluencies occurred at the later part of age 2 or at the beginning of age 3. Results also showed that there was a continuous reduction in disfluencies for the group as a whole. However, the 13 younger 2-year-olds and the 20 older 2-year-olds exhibited dissimilar developmental trends of disfluency. Large individual differences were observed during the period of the study. Many children showed large fluctuations in the number of disfluencies from one testing period to the next. A short episode of stuttering was observed in one subject. Overall, it appeared that the year between age 2 and 3 is an unstable period in speech development as far as disfluency is concerned.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1981

Disfluencies of normally speaking two-year-old children.

The spontaneous verbal output of 33 2-year-old children was analyzed to identify disfluencies. The results showed large individual variability and no significant sex differences. A substantial number of children were disfluent only infrequently. Certain disfluency types not reported in previous studies of 2-year-olds were exhibited by the children. The most prominent disfluency element was repetition of short segments, one syllable or less.

Child Language↗
PubMed1977

Short-term memory factors in oral retention.

Study or exploration time and retention interval duration between orignal-form exploration and test-form exploration were varied to assess the effect of these two variables on performance accuracy on an oral stereognostic memory task. Irregularly shaped, four-sided plastic forms were used as stimuli. Retention performance improved significantly with an increase in exploration time of up to 15 seconds, but was not effected by delays in testing of up to 60 seconds. Clinical and theoretical implication for oral stereognosis are discussed.

Adolescent↗