Lecture 10

Question 1

What is cluttering?

Answer 1

a disorder of fluency

Question 2

what is the ASHA definition of cluttering?

Answer 2

• a fluency disorder characterized by
  1. a rapid and/or irregular speaking rule
  2. excessive disfluencies- can co-occur with stuttering
  3. other symptoms:
  a. language errors: syntax, sequencing
  b. phonological issues
  c. attention deficits

Question 3

What does cluttering involve?

Answer 3

a. excessive breaks in the normal flow of speech
b. disorganization in thinking and speech planning
c. talking too fast or irregular rate

Question 4

parents usually report that:

Answer 4

• cluttering appeared as soon as the child started to talk
• child “was really never fluent”
• they may call cluttering , stuttering

Question 5

What are the difference between cluttering and stuttering? 1-3

Answer 5

1. Early cluttering is NOT cyclical or not variable
2. Maintains a level of severity
3. Other speech and language delays usually evident

Question 6

To identify cluttering…

Answer 6

Need to listen to conversational 
speech:
- doesn’t sound fluent, but not stuttering
- content of utterances just not right
- may be confusing, disorganized
- word finding difficulties
-  excessive revisions
-  irregular speaking rate; bursts of speech with delays and pauses

Question 7

other issues RE: cluttering

Answer 7

• usually few if any concomitant or secondary behaviors
• usually mispronunciations (difficulty with sequencing, problems with multisyllabic words)
• may exhibit slurring of speech sounds
• may have poor intelligibility
• may have fixed intonation pattern
• may exhibit deletions of non stressed syllables in longer words- (fortunately> ferchly)
• may exhibit learning disabilities

Question 8

Areas of evaluations for cluttering

Answer 8

• rate
• articulation
• receptive/expressive language
• auditory comprehensive and processing skills
• motor evaluation- gait; posture; balance; muscle tone
• awareness of cluttering

Question 9

treatment for cluttering

Answer 9

1. increase awareness
2. reduce rate
3. concentrate on details of speech production
4. language – memory sequencing (retelling stories, visual map to help them organize thoughts)
5. Work on increasing attention span/ focus

Question 10

Prognosis for Cluttering

Answer 10

• progress can be made, but may be slow
• most clutterers are not aware of the problem
• may deny problem
• at times lack of motivation

Question 11

other issues RE: cluttering part 2

Answer 11

• may have difficulty with handwriting
• may have attention issues; distractibility
• may have poor organization skills in day to day life
• may have little or no awareness of problem (major difference from stuttering and clutterer)
• therefore, no struggle, no frustration or shame
• suggestions to “slow down”, “ think about what you want to say” – seems to help clutterers

Question 12

What are the difference between cluttering and stuttering? 4-6

Answer 12

4. Developmental milestones are frequently delayed (motor issues can also be a problem)
5. While normal limits cognitively, may have difficulty reading and writing. Most do well in math and science. (cus if u hav lang issues, u may have difficulty in reading and writing, also problems with phonological aspects)
6. Clutterers aren’t necessarily sure of what they want to say; in contrast those who stutter know exactly what they want to say. **HALMARK