[Fluency shaping with surface electromyography: a pilot study].

BACKGROUND

the use of a technological resource in fluency promotion.

AIM: to verify the effectiveness of a stuttering treatment based on the use of surface electromyography (SEMG) exclusively.

METHOD: participants were four stuttering adults of both genders. Assessment, pre and post-treatment, consisted of a speech gathering session and the analyses of the rest tension and of the reaction time for speech. Treatment consisted of twelve twenty minute training sessions monitored by SEMG.

RESULTS

there was a statistically significant reduction in the number of stuttering-like disfluencies (p = 0.094) and in the number of other disfluencies (p = 0.014). The other parameters, as well as differences in the electromyographic measurements, did not present significant variation.

CONCLUSION

SEMG proved to be effective in the reduction of stuttering, with no need of association to other techniques.