The following was written by a relative who is a professional speech pathologist. It is in response to this thread and its posts. The author has a Masters in Speech and nearly a decade and a half of experience.
Dysfluencies are a fairly normal occurrence in preschool children (ages 3-5 years) due to the fact that they are still in the process of language learning.
Two red flags to be on the lookout for are:
1. Is there any muscular tension involved in the dysfluency? Is the child literally physically struggling to get the word or sound out?
2. Is the child aware of his dysfluency and does he get frustrated by it or react to it at all?
Anyone who interacts with the child regularly (parents, siblings, teachers, other relatives and friends, etc..) should be given these instructions.
Being a very patient listener is also good advice when interacting with an adult who stutters. They are quite aware of the problem and are usually extremely self conscious about it, which only feeds into the problem. Speech is supposed to flow automatically and if a person thinks about what he is doing while attempting to perform an automatic act, he tends to stumble. You need to be able to concentrate on what you want to say, not what your mouth needs to do to make the sounds come out. If a person who stutters perceives a negative reaction, that will only make it harder for him to get the words out.
The twitching is an attempt by a person who stutters to physically get himself out of the block. The problem is, it works for a while, but when the novelty wears off, the twitch is no longer effective, but it remains. A new one is then added to the repertoire with the same results. In therapy, these would need to be addressed.
Hatzlacha to all.