Stuttering and cluttering

Kathleen Scaler Scott

pp. 471-490

in: Louise Cummings (ed), Research in clinical pragmatics, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstract

Fluency disorders have the potential to cause difficulty with social interaction. This may be due to the fact that disorders of fluency, including stuttering, cluttering, and atypical disfluency, may co-occur with other disorders whose features include pragmatic symptoms. Co-occurring disorders include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, genetic syndromes, and language-based learning disabilities. In these cases, pragmatic difficulty may be related primarily to difficulties with knowledge of social rules or executive function features such as impulse control. The potential negative impact of the fluency disorder itself on social interaction is often underestimated. Affective and cognitive components of fluency disorders may lead to avoidance behaviors, such as decreased eye contact or limiting verbal output. Although these behaviors are rooted in fear, they can be misinterpreted as true pragmatic difficulties. Regardless of the cause, fluency disorders may result in difficulties with social interaction. This chapter provides information and strategies to help the practicing clinician effectively identify, evaluate, and treat disorders of social communication in clients with fluency disorders.