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

Regret is expressed for the energies being dissipated by colleagues ad dressing outmoded hypothetical constructs pertaining to the onset, dev elopment, and maintenance of stuttering. Following a review of the dev elopment of the author's thinking regarding fluency disorders over a 3 0-year period, it is concluded that the study of any single aspect of stuttering must include consideration of the interactive effects of th e disorder's affective, behavioral, and cognitive components extant at the time of assessment. To stimulate the development of more comprehe nsive 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 compo nents.