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Identifying the presence of stuttering in an individual's speech would, at first, seem like an easy task. Speech disfluencies often "stand out" and disrupt a speaker's communication, and listeners can usually detect when a person is stuttering. At the same time, however, stuttering can affect far more than just a person's observable speaking patterns, and some characteristics of stuttered speech are not as easy for listeners to detect. As a result, diagnosing stuttering requires the skills of a certified speech-language pathologist. To find an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist, visit http://www.asha.org/findpro/
During an evaluation, a speech-language pathologist may note the number and types of speech disfluencies a speaker produces in various situations, as well as the ways in which the speaker reacts to and copes with speech disfluencies. The speech-language pathologist may also gather information about environmental factors (e.g., teasing) that may aggravate the problem. A variety of other assessments (e.g., speech rate, language skills) may be completed as well, depending upon the speaker's age and case history. Information about the speaker is then analyzed to determine whether a fluency disorder exists, and if so, the extent to which it affects the ability to perform and participate in daily activities.
For young children, the task is not simply determining whether a child is stuttering, but predicting whether the stuttering is likely to continue. As noted above, the majority of preschool children do stop stuttering. As a result, an evaluation consists of a series of tests, observations, and interviews designed to estimate the child's risk for continuing to stutter. Although there is some disagreement among speech-language pathologists about precisely which risk factors are most important to consider, factors that are noted by many stuttering specialists include: a positive family history of stuttering, stuttering that has continued for 6 months or longer, the presence of concomitant speech or language disorders, and the existence of strong fears or concerns about stuttering on the part of the child or the family. Although no single factor can be used to predict whether a child will continue to stutter, the combination of these factors can help speech-language pathologists determine whether treatment is indicated.
For older children and adults, the question of whether stuttering is likely to continue is somewhat less central, because the stuttering has continued at least long enough for it to become a problem in the speaker's daily life. For these individuals, an evaluation consists of tests, observations, and interviews that are designed to assess the overall severity of the disorder, as well as the degree of impact the disorder has on the speaker's ability to communicate and participate appropriately in daily activities. Information from the evaluation is then used to develop a specific treatment program - one that is designed to help the individual speak more fluently, communicate more effectively, and participate more fully in life activities.
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