Correlation between clinician and patient self-rated stuttering severity in English-Kannada bilingual adults who stutter

This paper compares clinician and clients’ self-stutt-ering severity ratings in English-Kannada bilingual adults who stutter (BAWS). Method: Nine English-Kannada BAWS participated in the present study. SSI-4 was used to estimate the stuttering severity, and LEAP-Q to assess language proficiency. Spontaneous speech samples were audio-video recorded for both languages within and outside clinical situations. The clinician and participants rated the stuttering severity on a 9-point rating scale for both languages at the end of each situation. The percentage of syllables stuttered (% SS) was calculated, along with identi-fying different types of dysfluencies. Results: There was no significant difference between the clinician and patient’s self-rating, indicating a mutual agree-ment regarding stuttering severity. The clinician mean severity rating had a significant (p < 0.05) positive correlation with the mean % SS, suggesting that the stuttering severity rating scale can be used in clinics to assess and treat stuttering in BAWS.