Stuttering

Stuttering is a communication disorder that affects the fluency of speech. It begins during childhood and, in some cases, persists throughout the life span. The disorder is characterized by disruptions in the production of speech sounds. Speech-language pathologists refer to these disruptions as "disfluencies." Stuttered speech often includes repetitions of words or parts of words, as well as prolongations of speech sounds. The frequency of these disfluencies among persons who stutter tends to be much greater than it is for the general population. The exact cause of stuttering remains to be determined. Recent studies suggest that genetic factors play a role in the disorder. It is thought that many, if not most, individuals who stutter inherit traits that predispose them to develop stuttering.

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Links and Resources

• Developmental Stuttering Project
  The mission of the Developmental Stuttering Project is to investigate the importance of emotions and language in childhood stuttering, yielding advances in science and treatment.
• KidTalk
  KidTalk intervention procedures are based on more than 50 research studies demonstrating that naturalistic, conversation-based language teaching implemented by parents and teachers is effective for teaching young children functional communication skills. Children taught using KidTalk procedures typically learn new vocabulary, talk in longer sentences, and develop strong, positive relationships with their parents, teachers and peers.

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StudyFinder - Participate in a study related to Stuttering

Vanderbilt Kennedy Center researchers need subjects to complete the studies listed below.

• Childhood Stuttering

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