[Next]
From: Lou Heite
Date: 10/10/00
Time: 5:32:27 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.229.137
To the best of my knowledge, there aren't. Certainly a child who refuses to speak, or whose replies are stereo- typical (such as a smart alec) ought to raise a warning flag that communication may be a problem. But that goes for kids with language disorders, articulation disorders, and even just kids whose native language is not the language of the classroom, as well as for kids who stutter. I would be happy if teachers recognized the importance of communication skill building, and referred children with these behaviors for an evaluation with the school's SLP.
Really "bad" kids are few. Almost always, if a child misbehaves in a consistent manner, there is something else going on. The trick is to figure out what.
It would be a terriffic research project to observe classroom behaviors of children who stutter and see if there are some telltale behaviors.
Lou Heite