Nonfluencies of Preschool Stutterers and Conversational Partners

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Abstract
Nonfluencies produced by 12 stutterers (2–6 years old) interacting in three dyadic sessions were analyzed. A stutterer played with his own mother, own father, and a familiar peer for 10 rain. Results indicated that the total frequencies and types of nonfluency observed were very similar in each of the play situations. Although stutterers exhibited more part-word repetitions and prolongations than any other type of nonfluency, they did not differ in the amount and type of nonfluency when talking to their three conversational partners. Because children have more breakdowns in fluency than adults, it was not surprising that peers were more nonfluent when talking to the stutterer than were the parents. Peers used significantly more part- and whole-word repetitions, tense pauses, and interjections than the parents did. The nonfluency levels of the parent partners were quite similar when talking to the stutterers.