title: Language skills of children during the first 12 months after stuttering onset.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the language development in a sample of young children who stutter during the first 12 months after stuttering onset was reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  Language production was analysed in a sample of 66 children who stuttered (aged 2-4 years). The sample were identified from a pre-existing prospective, community based longitudinal cohort. Data were collected at three time points within the first year after stuttering onset. Stuttering severity was measured, and global indicators of expressive language proficiency (length of utterances and grammatical complexity) were derived from the samples and summarised. Language production abilities of the children who stutter were contrasted with normative data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of children's stuttering was rated as mild in severity, with more than 83% of participants demonstrating very mild or mild stuttering at each of the time points studied. The participants demonstrated developmentally appropriate spoken language skills comparable with available normative data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the first year following the report of stuttering onset, the language skills of the children who were stuttering progressed in a manner that is consistent with developmental expectations.
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Rd., Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia; Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Electronic address: amy.watts@mcri.edu.au.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watts
authors.affiliation: Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Level 4, 100 Leicester St, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eadie
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Communication Sciences, School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Block
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Rd., Parkville, Victoria, 3052 Australia.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mensah
authors.affiliation: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children's Hospital, Flemington Rd., Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia; Griffith University, Parklands Drive, Southport, Queensland 4222, Australia.
authors.forename: Sheena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reilly
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007804:Language Development; D007807:Language Tests; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013342:Stuttering / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Children; Language; Stuttering