Stuttering may occur as a side effect of medication and may be detected by a temporal relationship (i.e., a relation involving time) with exposure to the medication. 

University of Illinois at Chicago

Differential diagnoses of Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder include: 
- Sensory deficits
- Normal speech dysfunctions
- Specific learning disorder, with impairment in reading
- Bilingualism
- Medication side effects
- Adult-onset dysfluencies
- Tourette's disorder

Differential Diagnoses to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., Text revision). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

DSM-5-TR

Dysfluencies of speech may be associated with a hearing impairment or other sensory deficit or a speech-motor deficit. When the speech dysfluencies are in excess of those usually correlated with these problems, a diagnosis of Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder may be made. 

Sensory Deficits as a Differential Diagnosis to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder

Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder must be distinguished from normal dysfluencies that occur frequently in young children, which include whole-word phrase repetitions (e.g., "I want, I want ice cream"), incomplete phrases, interjections, unfilled pauses, and parenthetical remarks. If these difficulties increase in frequency or complexity as the child grows older, a diagnosis of Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder may be made. 

Normal Speech Dysfunctions as a Differential Diagnosis to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder 

Children who have dysfluencies when they read aloud may be diagnosed mistakenly as having a reading disorder. Oral reading fluency typically is measured by timed assessments. Slower reading rates may not accurately reflect the actual reading ability of children who stutter. 

Specific Learning Disorder, with Impairment in Reading, as a Differential Diagnosis to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder 

It is necessary to distinguish between dysfluencies resulting from attempts to learn a new language and dysfluencies that indicate a fluency disorder, which typically appear in both languages.

Bilingualism as a Differential Diagnosis to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder

Medication Side Effects as a Differential Diagnosis to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder 

If onset of dysfluencies is during or after adolescence, it is an "adult-onset  dysfluency" rather than a neurodevelopmental disorder. Adult-onset dysfluencies are associated with specific neurological damage and a variety of medical conditions and mental disorders and may be specified with them, but they are not a DSM-5 diagnosis. 

Adult-Onset Dysfluencies as a Differential Diagnosis to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder

Vocal tics and repetitive vocalizations of Tourette's disorder should be distinguishable from the repetitive sounds of Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder by their nature and timing. 

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