Who is most likely to have persistent stuttering?

The most likely individual to have persistent stuttering is someone who has been experiencing the condition for an extended period, such as the kindergartener who began stuttering at the age of 3. Stuttering often begins during the developmental years when children are acquiring language skills, and while many children may go through phases of disfluency, those who have stuttered consistently from a young age are at a higher risk of persisting into later childhood.

Children often experience normal disfluencies during their language development, particularly toddlers who are just starting to learn to speak. In contrast, the further along a child is in their language development, particularly as they enter school, the more likely their stuttering will persist if it has been present for a significant amount of time.

While the adult who has stuttered since childhood also represents a case of persistent stuttering, the focus in this scenario is on childhood onset and the developmental aspects associated with it. The kindergartener's case exemplifies a likely scenario for ongoing challenges with stuttering due to the early onset and continuation through a critical age for speech development.