Patent ID: 8530167

Claim:
A method of screening human patients to identify those patients having a genetic mutation indicative of stuttering or a predisposition to stuttering comprising: (a) obtaining a sample of genetic material from the patients, (b) assaying the sample for the presence of a genotype in the patients which is indicative of stuttering or a predisposition to stuttering, and (c) identifying those patients that stutter or are more likely to exhibit a predisposition to stuttering by correlating the presence of a genotype in the patients which is associated with stuttering in (b), with the identity of the patients which provided the sample; wherein the genotype includes a mutation in a gene of N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphodiester alpha-N- acetylglucosaminidase (NAGPA) and wherein the mutated forms are selected from the group consisting of: the allelic variant at position 252 where a C is substituted by a G codon (SEQ ID NO: 15); the allelic variant at position 982 where a C is substituted by a T codon (SEQ ID NO: 16); and the allelic variant at position 1538 where there is a 16 base pair deletion (SEQ ID NO: 17).