Evaluation of oral reading in stuttering using phonological analyzer: A comparison between pre- and post-treatment with fluency skills

Abstract

In this paper, the oral reading of two subjects (one in his thirties, the other teenaged) was assessed on the first and last days of treatment, and we examined the data. The two subjects participated in 16 sessions involving fluency skills, such as respiratory control, continuity between words in phrases, vowel prolongation, easy onset, and light articulatory contact. Duration time of oral reading was measured using a phonological analyzer, divided into three parts: reading, stuttering, and pauses. We measured the reading rates using the duration time of the reading part and not including duration times of stuttering and pauses. The two subjects' reading rates were 5.29 mora per second (MPS) and 8.86 MPS at pre-treatment. These changed to 3.29 MPS and 6.16 MPS at post-treatment.The percentages of pauses within reading duration time were 19.4% and 26.2% at pre-treatment. These changed to 46.7% and 38.4% at post-treatment. The percentages of stuttering within reading duration time were 13.5% and 7.2% at pre-treatment. These changed to 0% and 0%. Before treatment, the reading pattern of the two subjects was "short reading part with frequent pauses." But after treatment, stuttering disappeared and the reading rates declined as a result of longer duration of pauses and syllables with acquisition of fluency skills.