Language skills of children during the first 12 months after stuttering onset.

PURPOSE: To describe the language development in a sample of young children who stutter during the first 12 months after stuttering onset was reported.

METHODS: Language production was analysed in a sample of 66 children who stuttered (aged 2-4 years). The sample were identified from a pre-existing prospective, community based longitudinal cohort. Data were collected at three time points within the first year after stuttering onset. Stuttering severity was measured, and global indicators of expressive language proficiency (length of utterances and grammatical complexity) were derived from the samples and summarised. Language production abilities of the children who stutter were contrasted with normative data.

RESULTS: The majority of children's stuttering was rated as mild in severity, with more than 83% of participants demonstrating very mild or mild stuttering at each of the time points studied. The participants demonstrated developmentally appropriate spoken language skills comparable with available normative data.

CONCLUSION: In the first year following the report of stuttering onset, the language skills of the children who were stuttering progressed in a manner that is consistent with developmental expectations.