The following risk factors are common amongst individuals with a stuttering difficulty: Evidence shows that stuttering is hereditary; if a family member has been diagnosed with stuttering chances are other members of the family will have it too. If stuttering begins before the age of 3, the child will most likely outgrow it. In most cases, children will only stutter for 12-24 months and then suddenly outgrow it. For those who stutter for longer than 12-24 months, they will need intervention to aid the stuttering. Girls are more likely than boys to outgrow stuttering, making boys more prone to having a stuttering difficulty. Normal disfluencies occur, but usually disappear within a short period of time. You should be concerned if these disfluencies prolong over a period of time. Remember, just because your child shows any of these signs does not necessarily mean he/she is a stutterer.  But be sure to check in with a professional for more information. To read more about these 5 risk factors, please visit: http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=111

written by Cristine Jimenez, Language Stimulation Specialist Stuttering is considered to be a fluency disorder. Before discussing the criteria for stuttering, it is important to be aware of what fluency is and how it affects speech. Fluency Fluency is the smoothness or flow at which the sounds, syllables, words, and sentences in speech, are made when put together in conversation. It is what allows other people to understand what we are saying. When fluency is decreased, comprehension is impaired. Two Types of Fluency Language fluency- is the ability to speak, understand, and write a language. For example, being fluent in the Spanish language. How fluent you are in a language depends on how well you know the rules, grammars, and sounds of that language. Reading fluency- is the ability to read and understand written language correctly and quickly. Basically, how well you read. Some people are excellent readers, and can read out loud quickly and accurately. This would make them very fluent readers. An individual who can communicate fluently will be able to express him/herself effortlessly and smoothly. And others will be able to understand them without trouble. A person, who has trouble doing so, may be characterized as having…