Dr. Tumanova research is focused on the role of temperament, linguistic and speech motor control abilities in the development of stuttering in young children. The purpose of the current work in the Stuttering Research lab is to study how preschool-age children react to speech errors and disfluencies in their own speech and whether differences exist between children who do and do not stutter. We use psychophysiology measures such as skin conductance and heart rate variability to explore children's reactions during different language related stressors as well as a motion capture system to assess children's speech motor control abilities. Several studies have shown that children who stutter are more reactive and less able to regulate their reactivity and attention than normally fluent children, the work in our lab is focused on uncovering how these differences in emotional reactivity and regulation may affect speech production and specifically speech fluency in these children.

Research Spotlight

Dr. Tumanova’s primary research interest is on the onset and development of stuttering in early childhood. Her research focuses on the way in which temperament, linguistic and speech motor control abilities may influence the development of stuttering in young children. The overarching goal of her work is to contribute to the evidence-based assessment and treatment of stuttering as well as to our understanding of why some children develop chronic stuttering while others recover without treatment.

Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Syracuse University, 2013-present

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Developmental Stuttering Project (Drs. Edward Conture and Tedra Walden) Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University, USA, 2011-2013

Research assistant, Stuttering Research Laboratory (Dr. Patricia Zebrowski), Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Iowa, USA, 2005-2010

Instructor, College of Philology, Saint-Petersburg State University, Russian Federation 2002-2004

• Tumanova, V., Woods, C. & Razza, R. A., The Role of Behavioral Inhibition for Conversational Speech and Language Characteristics of Preschool-Age Children Who Stutter. 2020, In : American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_AJSLP-19-00026.
• Tumanova, V. & Backes, N., Autonomic Nervous System Response to Speech Production in Stuttering and Normally Fluent Preschool-Age Children. Nov 22 2019, In : Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR. 62, 11, p. 4030-4044. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-S-19-0121
• Tumanova V, Choi D, Conture EG, Walden TA. Expressed parental concern regarding childhood stuttering and the Test of Childhood Stuttering. J Commun Disord. 2018;72:86-96. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.01.002
• Choi D, Conture EG, Tumanova V, Clark CE, Walden TA, Jones RM. Young children's family history of stuttering and their articulation, language and attentional abilities: An exploratory study. J Commun Disord. 2018;71:22-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2017.11.002
• Tumanova, V., Choi. D., Conture, E., & Walden, T. (2018). Expressed parental concern regarding childhood stuttering and the Test of Childhood Stuttering. Journal of Communication Disorders, DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2018.01.002
• Choi, D., Conture, E., Tumanova, V., Clark, C., Walden, T., & Jones, R. (2017). Young children's family history of stuttering and their articulation, language and attentional abilities: An exploratory study. Journal of Communication Disorders, DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2017.11.002
• Clark, C. E., Tumanova, V., & Choi, D. (2017). Evidence-Based Multifactorial Assessment of Preschool-Age Children Who Stutter. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, 2(4), 4-27, DOI:10.1044/persp2.SIG4.4.
• Buhr, A., Zebrowksi, P., Moon, J., Tumanova, V., Arenas, R., and Loucks, T. (2016). Opening and closing jaw movements of young children who stutter. Journal of Speech Pathology and Therapy, DOI: 10.4172/2472-5005.1000115
• Tumanova, V., Zebrowski, P., Goodman, S., and Arenas, R. (2015). Motor Practice and Sensorimotor Integration in Adults who Stutter: Evidence from Visuomotor Tracking Performance. Journal of Fluency Disorders, DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2015.04.001
• Tumanova, V., Conture, E., Lambert, W., and Walden, T. (2014). Speech disfluencies in preschool-age children who do and do not stutter. Journal of Communication Disorders, DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2014.01.003
• Jones, R., Buhr, A., Conture, E., Tumanova, V., Walden, T., and Porges, S. (2014). Autonomic nervous system activity of preschool-age children who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2014.06.002.
• Choi D., Conture, E., Walden, T., Lambert, W., and Tumanova, V. (2013). Behavioral inhibition and childhood stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, DOI: 10.1016/j.jfludis.2013.03.001.
• Tumanova, V., Zebrowski, P., Throneburg, R., and Kayikci M. (2010). Articulation rate and its relationship to disfluency type, duration, and temperament in preschool children who stutter. Journal of Communication Disorders, DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2010.09.001.