Disturbance in the normal fluency and time patterning of speech (inappropriate for the individual's age), characterized by frequent occurrences of one or more of the following:

• sound and syllable repetitions
• sound prolongations
• interjections
• broken words (e.g., pauses within a word)
• audible or silent blocking (filled or unfilled pauses in speech)
• circumlocutions (word substitutions to avoid problematic words)
• words produced with an excess of physical tension
• monosyllabic whole-word repetitions (e.g., "I-I-I-I see him")

The disturbance in fluency interferes with academic or occupational achievement or with social communication.

If a speech-motor or sensory deficit is present, the speech difficulties are in excess of those usually associated with these problems.  

 

Criteria summarized from:
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.

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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 7 Sep 2006

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