Search

Technology acceptance models associate older age with lower intention to use digital technology although this assumption is often stereotypically-based and not sufficiently tested with older persons. This study investigated the association of ageism (rather than chronological age) with behavioral intention and actual use of technology within the theoretical framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT-2) model. 374 Dutch-speaking participants aged 50–97 completed the UTAUT-2 questionnaire, Expectations Regarding Aging, Attitudes Toward Older Adults Using Technology (ATOAUT-11) and experienced ageism scales. A path analysis found that expectations regarding aging partially mediated the association of age with negative attitudes. Mixed results were found regarding the fit of the new UTAUT-2-Ageism model. Negative ATOAUT moderated the associations of Effort Expectancy, Facilitating Conditions, and Habit with Behavioral Intention to use technology, and the explained variance increased. Further research is warranted to fully identify the potential role of ageism in technology acceptance.

Purpose: This case study is presented to inform the reader of potential speech, language, cognitive, and emotional characteristics in preadolescent cluttering. Method: This case study describes a 10-year-old boy who started to clutter during preadolescence. The case illustrates that, in some adolescents, cluttering can co-occur with temporary stuttering-like behavior. In this case, signs of disturbances in speech-language production associated with behavioral impulsiveness as a young child were noted. Speech, language, cognitive, and emotional results of the case are reported in detail. Results: The changes in fluency development are reported and discussed within the context of changes in the adolescent brain as well as adolescent cognitive and emotional development. While being unaware of their speech condition before adolescence, during preadolescence, the changes in brain organization lead to an increase in rate and a decrease in speech control. Given that the client had limited understanding of what was occurring, they were at risk of developing negative communication attitudes. Speech-language therapists are strongly advised to monitor children with cluttering signals in the early years of their adolescence. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21318072

Purpose Among the best strategies to address inadequate speech monitoring skills and other parameters of communication in people with cluttering (PWC) is the relatively new but very promising auditory–visual feedback (AVF) training ( van Zaalen & Reichel, 2015 ). This study examines the effects of AVF training on articulatory accuracy, pause duration, frequency, and type of disfluencies of PWC, as well as on the emotional and cognitive aspects that may be present in clients with this communication disorder ( Reichel, 2010 ; van Zaalen & Reichel, 2015 ). Methods In this study, 12 male adolescents and adults—6 with phonological and 6 with syntactic cluttering—were provided with weekly AVF training for 12 weeks, with a 3-month follow-up. Data was gathered on baseline (T0), Week 6 (T1), Week 12 (T2), and after follow-up (T3). Spontaneous speech was recorded and analyzed by using digital audio-recording and speech analysis software known as Praat ( Boersma & Weenink, 2017 ). Results The results of this study indicated that PWC demonstrated significant improvements in articulatory rate measurements and in pause duration following the AVF training. In addition, the PWC in the study reported positive effects on their ability to retell a story and to speak in more complete sentences. PWC felt better about formulating their ideas and were more satisfied with their interactions with people around them. Conclusions The AVF training was found to be an effective approach for improving monitoring skills of PWC with both quantitative and qualitative benefits in the behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social domains of communication.

Purpose Until now, little has been known about the prevalence of “pure” cluttering in a general population. This study sheds light on the prevalence of cluttering in populations of normally developing pre-adolescents in the Netherlands and Germany who do not stutter or have other communication disorders. Method 304 adolescents (Netherlands, n=219/393; Germany, n= 85) were screened with the Predictive Cluttering Inventory-Revised (PCI-r), and when cluttering characteristics were detected, tested for cluttering, using the Fluency Assessment Battery (FAB). Results In total, a group of 13 adolescents had a PCI-r score above 23, indicating the necessity for further fluency assessment. Four adolescents met all the diagnostic criteria for cluttering. The prevalence of pure cluttering in the Dutch study was computed to be 1.1%. The prevalence of pure cluttering in the German study was computed to be 1.2%. Conclusion The PCI-r can serve as an appropriate screening tool for further fluency assessment and should be administered by a speech-language pathologist (SLP). The prevalence of cluttering in a population of normally developing adolescents who do not stutter was found to be about 1.1%.

This article presents a variety of treatment approaches based on an understanding of four components of communication, and describes cluttering intervention focusing on problem identification, speech rate reduction, appropriate pausing, appropriate monitoring, and addressing story narrating skills. Therapeutic considerations, taking into account the specific characteristics of cluttering, will also be presented. Finally, building clients' confidence, emotional skills, and sense of accomplishment will turn the therapeutic process into awareness of realistic expectations and motivation to pursue challenging goals.

This article presents the highlights of an International Cluttering Association (ICA) international initiative featuring ten experts in fluency disorders from various countries, describing the historical and current state of awareness, research, diagnosis, and treatment of cluttering across countries and continents. In addition, authors discuss the challenges facing people with cluttering and ways of overcoming them in developed and developing countries.

The primary objective of this article is to study whether an assessment instrument specifically designed to assess speech motor control on word level productions would be able to add differential diagnostic speech characteristics between people who clutter and people who stutter. It was hypothesized that cluttering is a fluency disorder in which speech motor control on word level is disturbed in high speech rate, resulting in errors in flow of speech and sequencing. An assessment instrument on speech motor coordination on word level was developed and validated. In an elicitation procedure, repetitions of complex multi-syllabic words at a fast speech rate were obtained from 47 dysfluent participants (mean age 24.3; SD 10.25, range 14.2–47.4 yrs) and 327 controls (mean age 25.56 yrs; SD 8.49; age range 14.3–50.1). Speech production was judged on articulatory accuracy, smooth-flow (coarticulation, flow and sequencing) and articulatory rate. Results from people who clutter (PWC) and people who stutter (PWS) were compared to normative data based on control group data. PWC produced significantly more flow and sequencing errors compared to PWS. Further research is needed in order to study speech motor control in spontaneous speech of people who clutter.