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Stuttering, or dysfluency, is defined as “an abnormally high frequency and/or duration of stoppages in the forward flow of speech,” (Peters & Guitar, 1991). These breaks in the flow of speech are typically characterized by:
- Repetitions of sounds, syllables, and/or one syllable words
- Prolongations of sounds
- Blocks of speech and/or airflow during speech
These stuttering behaviors can be accompanied by secondary behaviors, such as eye-blinking, facial grimacing, hand and foot movement, and other physical movements. Emotional factors such as anxiety, withdrawal and poor self-image are often evident in severe stutterers.
The exact cause of stuttering is not known. A variety of theories exist which site organic and neurological factors, heredity, environment and emotional factors as possible causes of this disorder.
How do I know if my child has a problem?
It is an important thing to remember that stuttering is a normal part of a child’s speech and language development. From the ages of 18 months through 6 years of age, a period of “normal dysfluency” is seen in many children. These normal dysfluencies are characterized by the following types of behaviors:
- Part-word repetition (“pi-pig”)
- Word repetition (“Bugs…Bugs Bunny in funny”)
- Revision-incomplete phrase (‘I want to go to….Where’s my bike?”)
- Interjection (“I see the …uh…..teddy bear”)
These are typical behaviors seen in children 18 months through 6 years of age.
However, if the following behaviors are evident in your child, a stuttering evaluation may be warranted:
- Increased amount and speed of repetitions
- Any secondary physical behavior which accompanies stuttering
- Blocks of speech and/or airflow
- Speech avoidance by the child (i.e. refusing to talk, showing extreme apprehension or anxiety surrounding talking)
- Other repetitions, prolongations
http://www.stuttersfa.org/
http://www.nsastutter.org/
http://www.casafuturatech.com/Book/faq.html
http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/comdis/kuster/stutter.htm
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