In comparison, stuttering can be seen as a process where a word appears to become "stuck," and the person may grimace, jerk the head or neck as he struggles to overcome the stutter. Characteristics
Characteristics of developmental dysfluency include:
Repeating phrases (e.g. "he ate-he ate my cookie)
Use of filler words (um, uh, like, ah, etc)
No tension of physical inability and struggle to speak
Lack of problematic behaviors when speaking
No negative reaction or frustration
Appearance of dysfluencies only last less than 6 monthsChildren with normal dysfluency tend to have stuttering difficulties that come and go. Generally this is during preschool years and the problem normally ceases altogether by the time a child starts school. Everyone experiences periods of dysfluency - normal speech patterns include about 2-4% interruptions in flow or fluency. Revisions, word and phrase repetitions and interjections are all common in children speech (see typical dysfluencies below) whereas; sound and syllable repetition, sound prolongation and broken words are much more atypical. Typical Dysfluency Examples
The term dysfluency is used to describe normal irregularities that occur during speech. As children begin to learn how to communicate with language some will experience issues between the ages of 2-6. These can include:
Phrase revisions or abandoned utterances ("Im want. Can I have...")
Hesitations between words ("Can you give me ... blocks")
Multisyllabic word repetitions ("Gimme, Wanna ... etc)
Phrase repetitions ("I need I need I need ... a hug")
Interjections/Interruptions in sentence structure ("Youre ummm, really funny")Children are learning language and linguistics among many other things.
Those with these types of dysfluencies will exhibit the afore mentioned repetitions about once every 10 sentencesMistiming and stuttering are common ways that developmental dysfluency manifests itself. When a child mistimes, they prolong a certain letter/syllable in the word they are saying, thereby taking much longer for their sentence to be said. Pauses or blocking are another side effect relating to developmental dysfluency. This is when one inserts a silent interval within the word. Revision is similar to this but is the halting completely, mid-flow of a sentence and taking the thought in a different direction. There is evidence to show that this may not only be an issue of speech motor areas but also the auditory cortex. In a MEG study by Beal et al. they found that adults with "persistent developmental stuttering" or PDS, had slower cortical timing than those who spoke completely fluent. This shows us something is wrong in their auditory motor integration. As far as the underlying ailments behind stuttering, It is not well known whether this side effect has to do with "errors in linguistic planning" or issues with "access or retrieval of linguistic elements" and it could very well involve both issues.On occasion, children will go beyond the normal dysfluency patterns. Instances like the previously mentioned example indicate that the child is learning to use language. In contrast, children with stuttering disorder, will likely repeat sounds or one-syllable words three or more times. They may also prolong sounds for two or more seconds.