RED HERRINGS, DEAD HORSES, STRAW MEN, AND BLIND ALLEYS - ESCAPING THE STUTTERING CONUNDRUM

Regret is expressed for the energies being dissipated by colleagues addressing outmoded hypothetical constructs pertaining to the onset, development, and maintenance of stuttering. Following a review of the development of the author's thinking regarding fluency disorders over a 30-year period, it is concluded that the study of any single aspect of stuttering must include consideration of the interactive effects of the disorder's affective, behavioral, and cognitive components extant at the time of assessment. To stimulate the development of more comprehensive yet communicable frameworks from which to view fluency disorders, a definition is proffered of stuttering as a clinical syndrome with three subtypes (developmental, remediable, and chronic perseverative) comprised of characteristic affective, behavioral, and cognitive components.