diszfluencia

Diszfluencia, or dysfluency, is an interruption in the smooth flow of speech. It includes repetitions of sounds or syllables, prolongations, blocks, and non-lexical fillers or revisions. While some disfluency is normal in early language development, persistent, frequent, or distressing disfluency may signal a fluency disorder.

Common forms are sound, syllable, or word repetitions; prolongations; blocks; interjections (um, uh); and revisions or circumlocutions. Secondary behaviors such as tense facial movements or altered breathing may accompany disfluencies and affect communication.

Causes and risk factors: The most studied fluency disorder is stuttering, which has a genetic component and often begins in early childhood. Risk factors include family history, male sex, rapid language development, and high linguistic demand. Neurophysiological differences in speech networks are implicated; environmental and emotional factors can modulate severity.

Diagnosis and assessment: An evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) examines fluency patterns, frequency and duration of disfluencies, and impact on communication. Standardized tools and reports from parents or teachers help distinguish developmental disfluency from a disorder and identify co-occurring conditions such as language disorders, ADHD, or anxiety.

Treatment and prognosis: Treatments include fluency shaping (e.g., slower, controlled speech) and stuttering modification (e.g., approach, cancellation, pull-out), along with parent training and school accommodations. Cognitive-behavioral strategies may help with associated anxiety. Many children outgrow developmental disfluency; outcomes improve with early intervention, though a subset experiences persistent stuttering into adolescence or adulthood.

Prevalence: About 5% of children experience some disfluency at some point; approximately 1% persist into adulthood as a fluency disorder.