Youssef Al-halees

Stuttering: Fluency Disorders Youssef Al-halees

Stuttering is a communication disorder characterized by a fluency failure which interrupts and breaks into the fluency of speech. Despite extensive studies, there is still considerable disagreement and controversy over the possible causes, diagnosis and treatment. Many books and articles on its nature and treatment have been published which include various theories and hypothesis but no agreement has been reached on many of its aspects. It generally begins between two to five years of age in terms of its core causes. Not every fluency failure is pathological; every human being has fluency interruptions every now and then. There is a period of time between the ages of two to five years when almost every child has dysfluency in his speech as he is gradually exercising to develop his connected speech, in terms of length of the utterance and its grammatical complexity. The aim of this work is to give an overview of stuttering in general, with special emphasis on the situation in Jordan and Palestine, in terms of its treatment which is far from satisfactory.