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Fluency is the continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort involved in speech.
Stuttering, the most common fluency disorder is an interruption in the flow of speaking which may affect the rate and rhythm of speech, and is characterized by:
- repetitions (sounds, syllables, words, phrases),
- sound prolongations,
- blocks,
- interjections, and
- revisions
There may also be accompanying:
- physical tension,
- negative reactions,
- secondary physical behaviors (e.g. eye blinks, loss of eye contact), and
- avoidance of sounds, words, or speaking situations
(ASHA, 1993; Yaruss, 1998; Yaruss, 2004)