The Early Identification of Beginning Stuttering I

Speech-language pathologists often struggle with the differentiation of stuttering from normal disfluencies in young children. Differential diagnostic protocols are frequently used to aid clinicians in this complex clinical task. In this article the general format and criteria, clinical data collection procedures, documentation, and relative use of quantification in six protocols are examined and discussed. In a forthcoming companion article, we will discuss problems encountered with the use of differential diagnostic protocols and offer suggestions for future research and the use of these protocols.