Fiberoptic Laryngoscopy Study On Two Males Who Stutter

Peter R, Ramig, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor
Fellow, American Speech, Language, Hearing Association
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309
And
Marshall E. Smith, M.D., Professor
University of Utah School of Medicine
501 S. Chipeta Way
Salt Lake City, UT 84108

Subject #1
Adult Person Who Stutters
Laryngeal Function BEFORE Successful Stuttering Treatment

This subject is typical of many persons who stutter (PWS). Specifically, he demonstrates excessive tension in his vocal folds as he tries to move forward through stuttering by forceful adduction of the folds. He is doing the opposite of what is necessary to produce normal sound and speech. What you see in this subject are the learned reactions to the core stuttering behaviors. Although most researchers no longer view stuttering as a learned disorder, how the (PWS) copes with the embarrassment and frustration of the problem are learned reactions. As a result, many behaviors learned by the PWS can also be unlearned through successful stuttering treatment.

1) By tensing his vocal folds this subject is interfering with the normal vibration that is necessary to create voicing. Note how he often forcibly adducts his vocal folds, causing cessation of air and making normal voicing impossible at the moment. What often follows then are tense sounds of struggle as he attempts to overcome the tension and move forward in speech.

2) You also hear interjections of sounds and words that are not part of the passage he is reading. These are often used by PWS when they anticipate stuttering on an upcoming sound or word.

3) Although not visible in this video, it is important to state that during filming the researchers noted pervasive tension in his neck while speaking, something that is observable in many PWS immediately before and during stuttering episodes.

Subject #2
Adult Person Who Stutters
Laryngeal Function AFTER Successful Stuttering Treatment

Through successful stuttering treatment, this subject has learned how to control his stuttering through actively adducting the vocal folds gently, thus allowing successful initiation of normal airflow and voicing.

1) This subject has learned to move forward in speech and significantly reduce the severity of his stuttering by bringing his vocal folds together gently, very similar to what normal speakers do naturally,

2) He also speaks at a slightly reduced speaking rate, which, as he reports, helps him implement the gentle vocal fold adduction. This minimal rate reduction is evident as a result of a slight elongation of a syllable, sound or a word, often in a pause boundary of a sentence, as air flow and vocal fold vibration is initiated gently.

3) This subject also reports using a longer gentle stretch when experiencing a stutter. Specifically, he reports “holding” the gentle stretch as he continues moving forward through the sound and word. Since mastering this technique he stated he seldom ever “jams his vocal cords as before.”

Hide on More News:

Hide

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Carly Simon

Carly Simon began stuttering severely when she was eight years old.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.

Mel Tillis

Mel Tillis, born Lonnie Melvin Tillis, was an influential figure in country music, both as a songwriter and a performer. His journey to fame was marked by overcoming personal challenges, including a stutter that he turned into a defining part of his public persona.

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.

Byron Pitts

Byron Pitts has brought much attention to stuttering with his memoir, Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges, released in September, 2009. The book not only details his speech difficulties, but also his illiteracy until age 12 and his unstable family life. Pitts overcame the odds to become the chief national correspondent with ABC News.