Stuttering in Children: An Overview

Abstract

Stuttering is defined and distinguished from normal disruptions of speech rhythm. The variable “fluency” is defined as the rate, continuity, and ease of speech production. Its development in normal children is reviewed. Some of the unanswered questions about stuttering are then described—the distribution of stuttering behaviors according to linguistic, situational, and temporal factors, and the sex ratio—and research topics are suggested. Differences between stuttering and nonstuttering children are described. The problem of childhood stuttering is then conceptualized by a “demands and capacities” model, and ideas for research are presented. The options for treatment are then described as ways of increasing the child's capacities for fluency or decreasing the demands for fluency. Direct and indirect treatment approaches for modifying both stuttering behaviors and general speech behaviors are mentioned.