2009 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Effectiveness of the behind-the-ear type devices on stuttering treatment for adults: metronome and delayed auditory feedback (DAF) device

Research Project

Project/Area Number	19700463
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
Research Institution	Mejiro University
Principal Investigator	酒井奈緒美 Mejiro University, 保健医療学部, 助教 (60415362)
Project Period (FY)	2007 – 2009
Keywords	吃音 / DAF / メトロノーム / 成人 / 耳掛け型
Research Abstract	We had seven adults client wear a behind-the ear type devices (DAF or metronome) in daily life in aim to reduce frequency of disfluency on daily speech. As a result, the reduction in frequency of disfluency in their speech was observed in daily situations, although there is a difference of the degree by clients. Their subjective evaluation almost reflected the objective speech data and the comments on their speech from others, but one subject who show negative attitude for own stuttering did not evaluate the improvement of her stuttering. According to the results of seven subjects, it is indicated that it is effective to use the devices in their daily situation not only in the reduction in stuttering but also in the improvement of ability of communication and the quality of life, and that the efficacy of devices is related to 1) the frequency of using of devices, 2) their attitude for stuttering.

(5 results)