Emergence of Stuttering-Like Disfluencies During Therapy: An Exploratory Study

Anecdotal reports exist on the emergence of stuttering-like behavior during the course of language therapy, yet there is little empirical evidence of its occurrence. The aim of the present study is to address this lack of evidence by surveying school-based speech-language pathologists on their experiences with this phenomenon. Results show nearly 50% of the 324 respondents report observing the appearance of disfluencies in the speech of previously fluent children during language therapy. Findings are discussed from the perspective of interacting processes of language formulation and speech production. Cautions on data interpretation and recommendations for future research are presented.