Fluency disorders, 3 credits

For admission to semester 6, the student may have a maximum of 15 credits remaining from preceding semesters in the Study Programme in Speech and Language Pathology.

On completion of the course, the student is expected to be able to:

• account for prevalence of and theories of what causes stuttering and cluttering in children and adults and differentiate between different types of fluency disorders
• describe and justify choice of assessment instruments and analytical methods for speech-fluency disorders according to The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).
• suggest and motivate intervention for speech fluency disorders in children and adults based on evidence as well as related to different aspects in the ICF-model
• describe how different communication situations can affect speech fluency and what consequences it may have for the individual's emotions and psychological development
• reflect on own and others' reactions to children and adults with speech-fluency disorders and reflect on relevant aspects  of equal rights

The course includes basic information about the aetiology and prevalence of speech-fluency disorders in children and adults. Further, symptomatology and differentiation between and within different types of fluency disorders are outlined. Communicative disability and participation restriction as a consequence of fluency disorders are highlighted. Also, how acquired neurological diseases can affect speech-fluency will be discussed.
Methods for assessment and intervention related to function, participation and activity as well as personal and environmental factors are presented.
Issues related to equal rights relevant for the field will also be discussed.

Lectures, seminars, laboratory sessions, individual and group practical exercises.
In case of absence from a compulsory activity, the student is responsible for contacting the course coordinator for a complementary assignment.
The course coordinator decides if and how absence from compulsory learning activities can be compensated. Until the student has participated in the compulsory parts (or compensated any absence with assigned tasks in accordance with instructions from the course director) the final study results cannot be reported.
Absence from a compulsory activity may result in that this activity cannot be completed until the course is given the next time.

Written examination which is graded anonymously. Student who does not pass the first examination has the right to take five additional examinations. The third examination is the next regular examination of the course. If the student has failed six examinations, no additional examination is offered. The times a student has participated in one and the same examination is counted as an examination occasion. Submission of a blank examination is counted as an examination occasion. Examination to which the students has registered but not participated does not count as an examination occasion.

If there are special grounds, or a need for adaptation for a student with a disability, the examiner may decide to deviate from the syllabus's regulations on the examination form, the number of examination opportunities,  the possibility of supplementation or exemptions from the compulsory section/s of the course etc Content and learning outcomes as well as the level of expected skills, knowledge and abilities may not be changed, removed or reduced.

Examination can be carried out according to an earlier literature list during a period of one year after the date of a renewal of the literature list. Examination will be provided during a period of one year after a possible closing of the course.

Course evaluation will be carried out according to the guidelines established by the Committee for Higher Education.