Abstract:

Cluttering is a disorder of speech and language processing resulting in rapid, dysrhythmic, sporadic, unorganized, and frequently unintelligible speech. It is an impairment in formulating language and can be accompanied by accelerated speech [Daly (1992)]. Numerous similarities have been reported between cluttering, stuttering, and central auditory processing disorders. This study examined cerebral dominance and processing using 120 trials of a consonant--vowel dichotic listening task in 15 subjects (5 children who stuttered, 5 children who cluttered, and 5 children with no disfluency problem). Results revealed that during the free recall task, significant right ear advantages (REA) were found for all control subjects. REAs were reported for 3 of 5 children who stuttered and 2 who had left ear advantages (LEA). Children who cluttered exhibited 4 no ear advantages (NEA) and 1 REA. During the directed right ear and directed left ear listening tasks, children who cluttered and control subjects showed strong ear advantages. Children who stutter showed mixed findings on these tasks. The discussion includes the use of dichotic ear advantages in differentiating children who stutter and clutter.