Word-final disfluency (WFD), also referred to as end-word repetition and echo dysphemia, most often takes the form of a final rhyme-repetition involving a whole or partial syllable (for example, lock-ock, brother-er, ca-ake). While WFD has been reported in case studies of children described as neurotypical, autistic, and having other conditions, little research exists to shed light on epidemiology, neurological underpinnings, or course of development. 
 
Case descriptions of WFD suggest a multidimensional profile differing from developmental stuttering. Sisskin and Wasilus report therapy data for 20 successfully completed therapy cases of WFD in children using Structured Awareness Therapy for Word-Final Disfluency (SAT-WFD). Promising pilot therapy data support the need for research in (1) Incidence/prevalence, and relationship to developmental stuttering (2) potential causes or functions, and (3) evidence-based therapy approaches. 
 
Sisskin and Wasilus describe their therapy protocol to support SLPs/SLTs currently experimenting with therapy approaches that have proved unsuccessful.

Learning Objectives: 
1.     Will describe and provide an example of 3 typologies of WFD 
2.     Will list treatment phases and goals in the therapy protocol for Structured Awareness Therapy for Word-Final Disfluency (SAT-WFD).

3.     Will name 2 areas of research need that emerge from the authors’ pilot data.

Target Audience: Speech-Language Pathologists, Graduate Students

Vivian Sisskin, M.S., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF is a Clinical Professor Emerita at the University of Maryland, an ASHA Fellow, and Board-Certified Specialist in Stuttering, Cluttering, and Fluency Disorders. She created the YouTube Channel “Open Stutter” which serves as a resource for acceptance and change for stutterers and their allies. Sisskin owns the Sisskin Stuttering Center, PLLC.

Samantha Wasilus, M.A., CCC-SLP, BCS-SCF is a speech language pathologist at the Sisskin Stuttering Center and Prince George’s County Public Schools. She is a Board-Certified Specialist in Stuttering, Cluttering, and Fluency Disorders. Samantha works with stutterers of all age groups, both in groups and individually. Her clinical interests include therapy for atypical disfluencies.