Fluency is the flow or rate of speech production. A Fluency disorder is an involuntary disruption in the flow of speech beyond what is considered typical. The type and frequency of an individual’s dysfluency is characterized by a number of subjective and objective behaviors. A Fluency disorder is commonly referred to as Stuttering.

Stuttering can be characterized by any one or combination of the following behaviors:
• Repetition of sounds, syllables and or words
• Prolongation of sounds and syllables
• Tense pauses, and hesitations between words

An individual with dysfluency may unconsciously exhibit secondary behaviors in an attempt to up speech production. Secondary behaviors are frequently established to assist with fluent speech production. These may include:
• Tensing of the lips, jaw, and neck
• Facial or lip tremors
• Eye blinking, head turns and/or foot tapping

Treating expressive speech dysfluency typically includes introducing slow and easy expressive speech strategies. This includes the use of slow and deliberate speech with reduced temporal rate of production. Identifying habitual secondary behaviors and reducing their occurrence additionally assists with more fluent expressive speech.

We do not know what causes a fluency disorder. What may result in dysfluent behaviors for one individual may not contribute to another’s dysfluency. Sometimes dysfluency is a result of a combination of variables.