Despite the availability of methods and procedures for identifying the presence or absence of stuttering behavior in young children, we are currently unable to differentiate the child who will continue to stutter (i.e., the """"""""chronic"""""""" stutterer) from the child who will recover from stuttering (i.e., the """"""""transient"""""""" stutterer). Traditionally, attempts to differentiate chronic from transient childhood stuttering have relied on behavioral descriptions of the frequency, types, and durations of disfluencies that characterize stuttered moments, while the potential usefulness of physiological measurements for the diagnosis of chronic stuttering has been largely ignored. The driving hypothesis of the research proposed herein is that examination of peripheral manifestations of the underlying physiological processes that occur before, during and after disfluencies will enhance our understanding of stuttering and our ability to differentiate chronic from transient stuttering at an early age. Thus, the purposes of this Clinical Investigator Development Award (CIDA) are to: (1) provide the candidate with extensive research training, coursework and teaching experience in the areas of speech physiology and development of speech motor processes, (2) determine which methods among those often employed to study physiological aspects of speech produced by adult subjects will be suitable for use in children who stutter, (3) use these methods to conduct investigations of electromyographic, kinematic, autonomic and other physiological signals using quantitative data analyses, and (4) begin developing and testing a diagnostic protocol, designed for the purpose of differentiating chronic from transient stuttering, one that incorporates traditional methods of description and selected physiologic measures. Results from this research have the potential for enhancing the identification and remediation of stuttering in its preliminary stages, thus eliminating, or at least minimizing, the detrimental social and psychological effects of this communication deficit.
