The “average” stutterer is disfluent of 10% on words. Stated conversely, we are fluent on 90% of words. But is our fluent speech normal, or are there abnormalities even in our fluent speech?
Some studies found that listeners could differentiate the fluent speech of stutterers from that of normal speakers. Other studies found that listeners could not hear a difference. Spectrographic analysis did not find abnormal pitches in stutterers’ fluent speech. But electromyographic and aerodynamic studies found abnormalities in stutterers’ fluent speech. The problem may be that in what each research team considered to be fluent speech. Some studies used mild stutterers, other studies used severe stutterers. Some stutterers may have used therapy techniques resulting in abnormal muscle activity in order to sound fluent.
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