Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering)

Risk Factors

Genetic and physiological

The risk of stuttering among first-degree biological relatives of individuals with childhood-onset fluency disorder is more than three times the risk in the general population.

Symptoms

  • Disturbances in the normal fluency and time patterning of speech that are inappropriate for the individual’s age and language skills, persist over time, and are characterized by frequent and marked occurrences of one (or more) of the following:

  1. Sound and syllable repetitions.

  2. Sound prolongations of consonants as well as vowels.

  3. Broken words (e.g., pauses within a word).

  4. Audible or silent blocking (filled or unfilled pauses in speech).

  5. Circumlocutions (word substitutions to avoid problematic words).

  6. Words produced with an excess of physical tension.

  7. Monosyllabic whole-word repetitions (e.g., “I-I-I-I see him”).


  • The disturbance causes anxiety about speaking or limitations in effective communication, social participation, or academic or occupational performance, individually or in any combination.

  • The onset of symptoms is in the early developmental period.

Note: Later-onset cases are diagnosed as adult-onset fluency disorder.

  • The disturbance is not attributable to a speech-motor or sensory deficit, dysfluency associated with neurological insult (e.g., stroke, tumor, trauma), or another medical condition and is not better explained by another mental disorder.