The Development of Stuttering in Young Children
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot listed
Trial typeObservational
Biological sexAll
Age3-6
SponsorMichigan State University
About this trial
The goal of this longitudinal research is to learn why some children "grow out" of stuttering, while others persist. Children who do and do not stutter aged 3-6 years are eligible to participate in our study. During the study, children's speech and language abilities will be assessed with standardized assessments, and they complete several child-friendly experiments. During these experiments, brain activity will be recorded using specialized caps while children describe pictures, children will speak in two virtual-reality scenarios, and produce speech while keeping to a beat.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
English as first/primary language
No history of neurological disease
Normal or corrected visual acuity
No medications expected to affect performance
Disqualifiers
None
Trial population
Preschool children who do and do not stutter
Trial design
Design model
Case-control
Time perspective
Other
Treatments tested in this trial
Standardized assessments of speech and language abilities
Diagnostic testStandardized and observational assessment of speech and language abilities
Treatment groups
120 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Children who stutter1 intervention
Group B: Children who do not stutter1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Stuttering Severity
Assess speech for the presence of stuttering disfluencies and calculate the severity of stuttering based on parent ratings and calculated as the percentage of disfluent syllables out of the total syllables of speech produced.
Time frame
1 x each year for up to 5 years2
Virtual reality speaking scenarios
Record looking events in msec during virtual reality scenarios (classroom of children and kitten)
Time frame
1 x each year for up to 5 years3
Virtual reality speaking scenarios
Pulse oximetry measures will be taken with a photoplethysmograph transducer (Biopac TSD200) secured around the distal phalanx of the fourth finger of the child's non-dominant hand with a Velcro strap. Two measures will be analyzed. (1) Blood pulse volume (BPV) amplitude, the average trough-to-peak amplitude (in volts) of pulse cycles across segments where the child is producing speech and (2) Pulse rate (PR in pulses per minute ppm), will be recorded for each speech segment then averaged. These pulse oximetry measures will be taken during the viewing of virtual reality scenarios (classroom of children and kitten)
Time frame
1 x each year for up to 5 years4
Virtual reality speaking scenarios
Electrodermal (skin conductance) recordings will be collected from the hands while children are immersed in virtual reality speaking scenarios (classroom of children and kitten). We report skin conductance levels and skin conductance response frequency and amplitude in microSiemens (mS).
Time frame
1 x each year for up to 5 yearsSponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Michigan State University
Lead sponsor
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov