Cluttering symptoms in school-age children by communicative context: A preliminary investigation

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare the symptoms of cluttering among school-age children who do and do not clutter in the contexts of monologue, conversation and expository discourse.

Method: A matched pairs design was used to compare cluttering symptoms according to the Lowest Common Denominator (LCD) definition of cluttering, a definition representing the core speech and fluency characteristics of cluttering agreed upon among experts. Cluttering symptoms (over-coarticulated words, normal disfluencies, abnormal pauses) in eight school-aged males with cluttering were compared to eight controls matched by sex and grade level in school. Symptoms were compared in the speech contexts of conversation, monologue and expository discourse.

Result: Regardless of the speaking context, significantly more over-coarticulated words were found in children with cluttering (CWC) as compared to controls. Significantly more normal disfluencies were produced by CWC during monologue only.

Conclusion: Study findings confirm increased over-coarticulation and normal disfluencies in specific speaking contexts in CWC when compared to controls. These findings provide the premise for clinical implications for cluttering assessment and diagnosis. Findings also provide the basis for further investigation of the validity of the LCD’s symptom of abnormal pausing for accurate diagnosis of people who clutter.

Keywords:

• Cluttering
• symptoms
• disfluency
• school-age children

Acknowledgements

The author thanks all participants and families, and the following professionals who helped with participant recruitment: Kathy Cornell, Christine Evans, Harriett Hughes Rex, Cheryl Kaplan, Ann Roman. Special thanks to Maria Kidron for reliability and Dr. Michael Floren for statistical consulting.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by a Faculty Research Grant from Misericordia University.