Shaping Health Dictionary

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Shaping: From 1 Different Sources

n. a technique of *behaviour modification used in the teaching of complex skills or in encouraging rare forms of behaviour. At first the therapist rewards actions that are similar to the desired behaviour; thereafter the therapist rewards successively closer approximations, until eventually only the desired behaviour is rewarded and thereby learned.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Stammering

A disruption of the forward ?ow of speech. The individual knows what he or she wants to say, but temporarily loses the ability to execute linguistically formulated speech. Stammering is characterised by a silent or audible involuntary repetition/prolongation of an utterance, be it a sound, syllable or word. Sometimes it is accompanied by accessory behaviours, or speech-related struggle. Usually there are indications or the report of an accompanying emotional state, involving excitement, tension, fear or embarrassment.

Idiopathic stammering begins at some time between the onset of speech and puberty, mostly between 2–5 years of age. Acquired stammering at a later age due to brain damage is rare. The prevalence of stammering (the percentage of the population actually stammering at any point in time) is approximately 0·9 per cent. Three times as many boys as girls stammer. About 70 per cent of stammering children recover with little or no therapy. Stammerers have not been shown to demonstrate di?erences in personality from non-stammerers; there are, however, indications that at least some stammerers show minimal di?erences from ?uent speakers in cerebral processing of verbal material.

There is a genetic predisposition towards stammering. The risk of stammering among ?rst-degree relatives of stammerers is more than three times the population risk. In 77 per cent of identical twins, either both stammer or both are ?uent. Only 33 per cent of non-identical twins agree in this way. As there are identical twins who di?er for stammering, environmental factors must be important for some stammerers. There are relatively large numbers of stammerers in highly competitive societies, where status and prestige are important and high standards of speech competence are valued.

Di?erent treatments have been demonstrated to produce considerable bene?t, their basic outline being similar. A long period of time is spent in training stammerers to speak in a di?erent way (?uency-shaping techniques). This may include slowing down the rate of speech, gentle onset of utterance, continuous ?ow with correct juncturing, etc. When the targets have been achieved within the clinic, a series of planned speech assignments outside the clinic is undertaken. In these assignments, and initially in everyday situations, the ?uency-enchancing techniques have to be used conscientiously. Gradually speech is shaped towards normality requiring less and less e?ort. Therapy may also include some work on attitude change (i.e. helping the client to see him or herself as a ?uent speaker) and possibly general communicative skills training.

For information about organisations concerned with stammering, see Appendix 2.... stammering

Apoptosis

The natural process of programmed cell death.

Apoptosis occurs in embryonic development, when the shaping of body parts is taking place and continues throughout life in the constant cycle of death and renewal of body cells.

Failure of apoptosis is implicated in the development of cancers.... apoptosis

Plastic Surgery

Any operation carried out to repair or reconstruct skin and tissue that has been damaged or lost, is malformed, or has changed with aging. Plastic surgery is often performed after severe burns or injuries, cancer, or some operations, such as mastectomy. Congenital conditions that may require plastic surgery include cleft lip and palate, hypospadias, and imperforate anus (see anus, imperforate). Techniques include skin grafts, skin flaps, and Z-plasty; these may be combined with implants or a bone graft. Microsurgery allows transfer of tissue to other parts of the body. (See also cosmetic surgery.)

A suffix meaning shaping by surgery; performing plastic surgery on.... plastic surgery

Root Canal Treatment

the procedure of fully *devitalizing and removing the remnants of the pulp of a tooth, cleaning and shaping the canal inside the tooth, and filling the root canal (see root filling). The treatment may extend over several visits. It is used to treat toothache and apical abscesses. See also apicectomy; endodontics.... root canal treatment

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