Chapter 3: Data-based assessment of adolescents & adults who stutter

Question 1

What is the best way to assess stuttering?

Answer 1

• There is no universal agreement regarding the best way.
• Our assessment needs to be as comprehensive as possible.

Question 2

T/F: According to Yaruss (1997) The initial assessment essentially establishes a baseline?

Answer 2

TRUE!

Question 3

T/F: According to Yaruss (1997) Ongoing assessment during therapy helps determine change over time

Answer 3

TRUE

Question 4

What is the diagnostic process?

Answer 4

It is the basis of all clinical decision-making in speech-lanugage pathology.

Question 5

What is the diagnostic process used for?

Answer 5

Determining whether treatment is needed and, if so, what the best treatment will be.

Question 6

Why is the basic definition of stuttering critical in our assessment of the disorder?

Answer 6

Because it determines the variable(s) we will consider as we undertake the diagnostic process.

Question 7

Why should stuttering be considered a fluency issue?

Answer 7

Because stuttering causes breaks in the fluency (of speech)

Question 8

What are some examples of important information in the assessment of children who stutter?

Answer 8

• Developmental history
• Language and speech milestones
• Motor milestones

Question 9

T/F: Information about the quality and quantity of previous therapy is a very relevant consideration when initially assessing adults who stutter?

Answer 9

TRUE

Question 10

How is interviewing a client a type of a formal and informal assessment?

Answer 10

• FORMAL: We are gathering a sample of the client’s speech-data- which we can later analyze in detail
• INFORMAL: we are beginning to get an impression of the client’s stuttering pattern, as well as the role stuttering plays in his/her life.

Question 11

What are two examples of a “formal” assessment tools for stuttering with psychometric characteristics?

Answer 11

• Adequate random sample size
• Good measures of validity & reliability

Question 12

What formal test is best known and widely used to measure stuttering?

Answer 12

• Stuttering Severity Instrument for Children and Adults (SSI-3, Riley, 1994)

Question 13

What is the clinician measuring while giving the SSI-3?

Answer 13

• Frequency
• Duration
• Physical concomitants of stuttering

Question 14

What does the Overall Assessment of Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES, Yaruss & Quesal, in press) normed on? (Amount of people)

Answer 14

300 people who stutter

Question 15

What does the test, Overall Assessment of Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES, Yaruss & Quesal, in press) determine?

Answer 15

• The speaker’s perception of the stuttering impairment
• The speaker’s affective, behavioral, and cognitive reactions to stuttering
• The speaker’s limitations when communication in the daily activities
• The impact of stittering on the speak’s overall participation in life

Question 16

Why do some reserachers suggest for adults, that all disfluent behaviors should be counted in a fluency sample?

Answer 16

• It accounts for the important role of loss of control in stuttering. Because this is experienced by speaker only, the observer cannot accurately determine which disfluencies are “loss of control” or not.
• It is often very difficult to determine how these normal disfluencies (such as the interjection “uh”) contribute to the overall stuttering pattern until they are ecaluated, and for that reason they should be included in the diffluency analysis.

Question 17

What is one final problem that we face in any fluency evaluation?

Answer 17

• The possibility that what we observe may not represent the client’s “typical” speech

Question 18

What are the 3 different tasks we typically try to assess fluency during to obtain a representative speech sample?

Answer 18

• Conversation: We obtain this through case history information from the client, and during other interactions during the evaluation.
• Monologue: Referred to as “job task” becasue we may ask the client to “tell us about your job/school/family” – something that will elicit a fairly long samples of uniterrupted speech.
• Reading: Often difficult for clients qho uaw qoes substitution/avoidance as a “technique,” therefore they have to say the printed words without substituting them.

Question 19

When does our prliminary diagnosis evolve?

Answer 19

• During the assessment!

Question 20

What are we forming during the assessment process?

Answer 20

• Client’s speech behavior
• Reactions to stuttering
• Impact of stuttering on his/her life.
• Make the determination of whether therapy would benefit him/her

Question 21

Where is the formal diagnosis typically stated & what does it document?

Answer 21

• In the evaluation report
• Which documents …
• The events of the assessment
• The SLPs findings, and
• The recommendations.