All Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects

Year of Award

2020

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

College

College of Education & Allied Health

Degree Program

Speech-Language Pathology

Department

Communication Disorders and Deaf Education

First Advisor

Lauren Wright-Jones

Second Advisor

Catherine Schroy

Third Advisor

Dr. Amanda Eaton

Keywords

stuttering, speech therapy, case study, treatment method

Abstract

Stuttering is a fluency disorder that consists of repetitions, prolongations, and blocks. When stuttering occurs in childhood and persists throughout the lifetime, it is considered a developmental stutter (DS) which is the most common form of stuttering. Adults who sustain a stroke, TBI, or other type of brain injury can experience acquired neurogenic stuttering (ANS) which is the acute onset of stuttering after a brain injury with no history of stuttering prior. While there are a variety of treatments available for DS, there are significantly less available for ANS. Diaphragmatic breathing is a common treatment for DS but there is no data as to whether it is also effective for ANS populations. This single subject case study aims to determine if diaphragmatic deep breathing can improve fluency in adults with ANS. The participant in this study completed a one-month therapy process that included a home program and an in-session therapy program. Results indicated that the participant experienced a decrease in primary stuttering behaviors although more research is required to determine if these findings would be consistent among a larger sample size.

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS