USA Developmental Stuttering Lab
Welcome to the USA Developmental Stuttering lab
The mission of the USA DS Lab is to investigate the contribution of emotion and language to stuttering and to improve understanding of the mechanism by which emotional and linguistic processes influence stuttering. The lab is directed by Dr. Dahye Choi, who joined the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology at USA in August 2015.
key words: stuttering, treatment, assessment, evaluation, mobile, Alabama, stuttering experts, SLP specializing in stuttering, research participation
People
Director
Dahye Choi, Ph.D., CCC-SLP,
Associate Professor, Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, USA
Director, Developmental Stuttering Laboratory
Associate Editor, Speech, Language and Hearing (Journal)
Specialty: Fluency Disorders
Research:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=03Sw_Z8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra
Research Assistants
Caroline Locke: Graduate Assistant
Reagan Merrick: Graduate Assistant
Dr. Dahye Choi
Research
Publications
Choi, D., Beverly, B., & Maher-Hosford, K. (Accepted). Young children's temperament and thier emerging prejudicee against stuttering. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups.
Tumanova, V., Choi, D., & Wang, Q. (2023). Effects of behavioral inhibition on stuttering severity an dadverse consequences of stuttering in 3-6-year-old children who stutter. Journal of Communication Disorders, 104
Conture, E., Tumanova, V., & Choi, D. (2022). Common characteristics of stuttering. In Zebrowski, P., Anderson, J., Conture, E. (4th Ed.), Stuttering and Related Disorders of Fluency. Thime: NY.
Choi, D., Sim, H., Lee, S., & Kim, H. (2021). Reliability and Validity of the Attitudes toward Your Child's Speech. Communication Sciences and Disorders, 26(4), 909-920.
Kim, H., Choi, D., & Sim, H. (2021). The impact of emotional processes on stuttering in young school-age children who do and do not stutter. Communication Sciences and Disorders, 26(1), 206-218.
Choi, D., Hurd, L., & Kim, H. (2021) Language abilities and awareness of stuttering in normally fluent children: Preliminary findings. Speech, Language and Hearing, 1-10.
Choi, D., Sim, H., Park, H., Clark, C., & Kim, H. (2020). Loci of stuttering in Korean-speaking and English-speaking children who stutter: Preliminary findings. Journal of Fluency Disorders.105762.
Tumanova, V., Choi, D., Conture, E., & Walden, T. (2018). Expressed parental concern regarding childhood stuttering and Test of Childhood Stuttering. Journal of Communication Disorders, 72, 86-96.
Choi, D., Conture, E., Tumanova, V., Walden, T., & Jones, R. (2018). Young children’s family history of stuttering and their articulation, language and attentional abilities: An exploratory study. Journal of Communication Disorders, 71, 22-36.
Erdemir, A., Choi, D., Jefferson, C., Jones, R. & Walden, T. (2018). The effect of emotion on articulation rate in persistence and recovery of childhood stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 56, 1-17.
Clark, C. E., Tumanova, V., & Choi, D. (2017). Evidence-based multifactorial assessment of preschool-age children who stutter. Perspectives SIG4, Fluency and Fluency Disorders, 2(4), 4-27.
Lee,H., Sim,H., Lee,E.,& Choi,D. (2017). Disfluency characteristics of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms. Journal of Communication Disorders, 65, 54-64.
Choi, D., Conture, E., Walden, T., Jones, R., & Kim, H. (2016) Emotional diathesis, emotional stress and childhood stuttering. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 1-13.
Jones, R., Choi, D., Conture, E., & Walden, T. (2014). Temperament, emotion and childhood stuttering. Seminars in Speech and Language, 35(2), 114-131.
Choi, D., Conture, E., Walden, T., Lambert, W., & Tumanova, V. (2013). Behavioral inhibition and childhood stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 38(2), 171-183.
Research Collaborators
Katerina Ntourou, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma
Victoria Tumanova, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, Assistant Professor, Syracuse University
Hyunsub Sim, Ph.D., Professor, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea
Soobok Lee, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Woosong University, Daejeon, South Korea
Lab News
Dr.Choi and her collaborators (Drs.Victoria Tumonova and Katerina Ntourou presented at ASHA2023. Their presentation title is "The Role of Bottom-up and Top-down Processes in the Development and Treatment of Childhood Stuttering".
Dr.Choi and Croline Locke presented a techinical session at ASHA 2023 titled "Measurement of Secondary Behehaviors: Challenges and Solutions."
Dr.Choi is invited to talk about behavioral inhibition and its clinical implications at the Michael Palin Centre in UK in Feb., 2024.
Research Participant Opportunities
Do you wonder if your child shows just normal disfluencies or beginning stuttering?
Are you and your child interested in participating in research for children with communication disorders?
Then, please consider participating in our study!
We are interested in how children's language abilities and emotional processes influence stuttering and other disfluencies.
1) Research project: Awareness and evaluation of stuttering in children who do and do not stutter
Our lab recruits participants between the ages 3-7 years: Children who stutter or at risk of stuttering.
Our testing takes about 1.5-2 hours.
During the visit to our lab, your child will receive a language test, a phonological awareness assessment and engage in a conversation with an examiner. Next, your child will view a video featuring two puppets: one puppet would speak fluently and the other puppet would stutter. After each pair, the child will be asked questions. Parents will fill out questionnaires and meet with a certified Speech-Language Pathologist to talk about your child’s speech and language development.
Benefits:
- $ 30 for participation
- Children will be given a small toy after each visit.
- A summary report of the speech-language evaluation will be provided upon request.
- Speech-language consultation and referral if needed
2) Research project: Parents' attitudes toward their child's speech
Our lab recruits parents of children ages 3 to 12 who do or do not stutter.
Parents will complete an online survey about their attitude toward their child's speech.
If you are interested in participating in a future research project, please contact the laboratory at dslab@southalabama.edu.
Thank you!
We look forward to hearing from you!
Student Opportunities
Volunteer
Volunteering in the lab is a great way to become familiar with the lab and to get hands-on experience with research involving speech and language processing and associated disorders. Volunteers may contribute to the lab in many ways, including but not limited to: stimulus development, data processing, clerical work, and website maintenance. If you are interested in volunteering in the DS Lab, please email Dr. Choi at dchoi@southalabama.edu.
Contact Us
Dahye Choi, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Associate Professor
University of South Alabama
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
5721 USA Drive North, Mobile, AL36688-0002
Phone: (251) 445-9364
Fax: (251) 445-9376
E-mail: dchoi@southalabama.edu
Lab email: dslab@southalabama.edu