title: Stuttering and language ability in children: questioning the connection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article explains why it is reasonable to question the view that stuttering and language ability in children are linked-the so-called "stuttering-language connection."
  
  
  METHODS
  Studies that focused on syntactic, morphologic, and lexical development in children who stutter (CWS) are examined for evidence to support the following claims: (a) that CWS, as a group, are more likely to have disordered or weak language skills ("language deficits") than children who do not stutter (CWNS); (b) that language deficits play a causal role in the onset of stuttering; and (c) that stuttering, over time, restricts children's language development.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis of the evidence suggests that CWS, like CWNS, show the full range of language abilities (high, average, low); that language deficits are not associated with stuttering onset or persistence; and that stuttering has little or no impact on language development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A connection between stuttering and language ability was not supported. An alternative perspective is that CWS have a compromised motor control system that makes it difficult for them to move forward in speech and that the tie to language lies not in a deficient linguistic system but in difficulty expressing the intended meaning via a fully functional speech system.
authors.affiliation: University of Oregon, Eugene, USA. nippold@uoregon.edu
authors.forename: Marilyn A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nippold
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002663:Child Language; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D063369:Knowledge Discovery; D007804:Language Development; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008037:Linguistics; D013342:Stuttering / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*