dysfluency

dysfluent

 [dis-floo´ent]

proceeding with difficulty; said of speech disorders such as stuttering.

disfluency

Speech that exhibits deviations in continuity, fluidity, ease of rate and effort, with hesitations or repetition of sounds, words, or phrases; lack of skillfulness in speech. Disfluency is normal in pre-school language development. In later years, it can be due to congenital conditions such as Down’s syndrome, or acquired—either early, as in stuttering, or late, as may occur in Parkinson’s disease.

dysfluency

Neurology A speech rhythm disorder–eg, stuttering, often characterized by the repetition of a sound, word, or phrase. See Speech disorder.

dys·flu·en·cy

, disfluency (dis-flū'ĕn-sē)

Speech interrupted in its forward flow by hesitations, repetitions, or prolongations of sounds; common manifestation of a stuttering disorder, which is also present in normal speech, particularly during speech development in young children.
See: stuttering
Synonym(s): nonfluency.