ABSTRACT
The failure of unidimensional explanations of stuttering has resulted in widespread recognition that stuttering can best be understood within the context of a multidimensional model. Although describing stuttering as a multidimensional disorder allows researchers and clinicians to appreciate the complexity of the speech problem, it does present the challenging task of identifying the different dimensions that are important in characterizing the disorder. One historical approach to this problem has been to define stuttering not as a unitary speech disorder, but to differentiate between different subtypes, each characterized along different dimensions. One such model was proposed by Van Riper (1982), who differentiated between four tracks of stuttering development. In this model, each individual track can be characterized by a more or less distinct pattern of motoric (both speech and nonspeech), emotional, and cognitive variables associated with its onset and development. More recently, Adams (1990) and Starkweather, Gottwald, and Halfond (1990) have proposed the Demands and Capacity (DC) Model to account for the multidimensional nature of stuttering. According to the DC model, stuttering onset and development can best be understood along four dimensions; motoric, linguistic, cognitive, and emotional. Importantly, each of these dimensions can be characterized at the level of either the child or the environment (parents). Furthermore, because every child's history of stuttering development is unique to the family in which the child lives (Starkweather et al., 1990), the relative influence of each of these dimensions on the onset and development of stuttering may differ from child to child. For some children, stuttering development is influenced by variables along all four dimensions. In others, not all four dimensions need to be considered in order to understand the onset of stuttering.
