Verbal thought peculiarities of stuttering in primary class pupils

Straipsnyje analizuojami pradinių klasių mikčiojančių mokinių ir sklandžiai kalbančių jų bendraamžių verbalinio intelekto ypatumai, aptariamos mikčiojimo mechanizmą aiškinančios teorijos, mikčiojimo rūšys. Tyrime dalyvavo 54 bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų pradinių klasių moksleiviai: 18 mikčiojančių ir 36 sklandžiai kalbantys mokiniai, kurių amžius, lytis, šeimos sudėtis ir tėvų išsilavinimas atitiko eksperimentinės grupės duomenis. Verbaliniam intelektui įvertinti naudoti D. Wechsler (WISC) metodikos verbaliniai subtestai, adaptuoti Lietuvoje. Atlikus kiekybinę rezultatų analizę, nustatyta, kad statistiškai reikšmingų verbalinio intelekto skirtumų tarp sklandžiai kalbančių ir mikčiojančių pradinių klasių moksleivių nėra, tačiau mikčiojimo sunkumas turi įtakos prastesniems žodyno ir supratingumo subtestų rezultatams.Various, usually distinct theories elucidate the etiology of stuttering. Recent neuro-physiological research works disclaimed a lot of previous theories of the origin of stutter. However, mechanism of this disorder is still vague. Stuttering can be stipulated by physiological, genetic, psychological-emotional and social factors. It is complicated to determine causes of stutter display, as they might be diverse in every separate case. Complex stuttering etiology considers the influence of this disorder on cognitive skills to be of a double nature: first of all, experience of speech problems and avoidance of conversational situations can restrict a child’s cognitive skills, or burden his mastering of new information; secondly, increased anxiety or notice to speech articulation can suppress a child’s expression of capabilities. However, there are no research works on the influence of stutter upon cognitive skills. The main aim of the investigation is to analyze verbal thought peculiarities of stuttering in primary class pupils. Studying the information of clinical observations and literature, we stated two hypotheses: the first- verbal thought indications of pupils with neurotic stuttering do not differentiate from those who have fluent speech; the second- stutter difficulties can affect more common results of verbal thought. Being inquired into those problems, we practiced parents’ survey data and the comparable verbal thought research between stuttering and fluently speaking pupils. 54 pre-schoolers of mainstream schools took part in this research: 18 stuttering and 36 fluently speaking pupils whose age, gender, family status and parents’ education corresponded to the data of experimental groups. D. Wechsler’s (WISC) method was exercised for the assessment of verbal intellect. To sum up, we can state the following conclusions: 1. The results of verbal thought of primary class pupils with neurotic stuttering do not differ from those of the same age pupils with flowing speech. 2. Statistically significant difference of knowledge subtest results was revealed while comparing fluently speaking and stuttering pupils’ verbal portion results. The results of verbal thought depend upon stutter difficulties. Stutter of a more complex extent affects more common verbal thought results