The influence of stuttering awareness on the child who stutters' friendship preference

Stuttering has been defined as an atypical disruption in the forward flow of speech (Conture, 2001). The onset of stuttering is reported to be 2 to 3 years of age; the age at which the child is first learning to communicate more frequently with words rather than nonverbal behaviors. Interestingly, this is also the time at which children seek interactions with others rather than the former tendency to play independently. Because of the overt nature of this disorder, the timing of the onset and its co-occurrence with significant social developmental shifts, stuttering has the potential to impact the child’s ability to make and maintain friendships. The purpose of this report is to investigate the impact of stuttering awareness on the friendship preferences of preschool children who stutter.