Understanding Stuttering

Understanding Stuttering

Stuttering is an affliction that affects every ethnicity and every culture equally, some sixty million people worldwide. Five percent of children stutter. Typically, this debilitating condition emerges when a child is between the ages of two and six. Twenty percent of these children will continue to stutter as adults. Although it is so pervasive, there is great misunderstanding about stuttering. Socially isolating the people it strikes, the disorder prevents them from the kind of candid discussions that would help them gain an understanding of it. In turn, social isolation creates misconceptions. In Understanding Stuttering a writer, who is both a practicing physician and former researcher on stuttering, examines the medical roots of the problem and, hoping to bring alleviation, shares his findings. He defines stuttering as a medical condition that is neurologically based or inherited. In clear language he explains the basics of brain anatomy and function, tells of the latest scientific advances in diagnosis and treatment of stuttering, and explains the difference in acquired stuttering and Tourette syndrome. Using examples from his practice, he details effective treatments, including speech therapy and medications. He discusses the most promising new research and tells how the findings of this research will improve treatments and provide a possible cure. Understanding Stuttering concludes with practical tips on how to converse with those who stutter and lists organizations that provide additional information and support.

Understanding & Controlling Stuttering

Understanding and Managing Fluency Disorders

This accessible book provides an overview of fluency disorders. Written by a team of speech-language pathology researchers and practitioners in India, it examines the concepts of fluency and disfluency with illustrative examples in English and Indian languages. Understanding and Managing Fluency Disorders gives an overview of current research and evidence-based practice in the context of a theoretical background. Clinical aspects of each fluency disorder are described, and the book outlines assessment protocols and intervention methods. Maruthy and Kelkar address key concepts related to different fluency disorders, including cluttering and acquired neurogenic stuttering. One of the highlights of the book is the chapter dedicated to typical disfluency, which could be of immense use to beginning clinicians who wish to increase the specificity and accuracy of their assessment. Other salient features include case vignettes, activity examples, easy steps to carry out intervention approaches and the added advantage of an ICF perspective, making this a practitioner’s guide to management of fluency disorders. Offering a comprehensive overview of theoretical and clinical aspects of stuttering, cluttering and fluency disorders, this volume will be highly relevant reading for students of fluency disorders and speech and language therapy. It will also provide clinicians and trainees working in the field with up-to-date theoretical and clinical information about assessment and intervention.