young speaker. However, it should be clear that there is no cut-and-dried rule for distinguishing stuttering from simple mistakes. The difference between stuttering and simple awkwardness or inexperience is a question of degree and frequency, not of any absolute or qualitative difference between stutterers and other speakers.
Researchers do not know precisely why some children stutter and others do not, and indeed studies have shown that in every cognitive aspect other than speech the stuttering child appears to be exactly like other children (Byrne, 1983, p. 7). However, researchers do know that certain factors may predispose children toward stuttering. Among these are a history of stammering in the family, a rather late acquisition of language or articulation skills and difficulties in coordinating the finer muscular movements required for speech (Byrne, 1983, p. 7).
Byrne (1983) also lists a number of precipitating and perpetuating factors that can incline a child toward stuttering. These precipitating factors include a shock that unduly upsets a child, such as serious illness, separation from parents or beginning school. Perpetuating factors include an insistence on
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