“Stuttering" and "stammering" are two words that describe the same condition: a disruption in the fluency speech. Stuttering might suddenly appear or it might develop gradually over days or weeks. It usually fluctuates, and the stutterer has good days and bad days (even including completely stutter-free days). The stutter is often worse when the stutterer is tired or stressed.
Stuttering can be treated successfully if identified early on since stuttering in children is more amenable to treatment than stuttering in adults. But even adult stutterers who have never been in therapy before have achieve a much more fluent speech through our Speech and Language intervention. Our aim is to make stuttering “normal” and manageable, and not a part of our patient's self-concept.
Does my child have a stutter?
Many children go through a period of stuttering between the ages of 2 and 5 years, with three boys for every girl affected. These "developmental dysfluencies" are usually effortless and infrequent repetitions of whole words or phrases. The child does not demonstrate any tension in their speech and is often unaware of their difficulty. It has been suggested that the cause of this nonfluency may be a combination of increases in language development, development of speech motor control and environmental stresses that can occur in typical busy families. 3 out of 4 children “outgrow” these difficulties if their attention is not drawn to them.
Stuttering/Stammering
In contrast to "developmental dysfluencies", children and adults with a stutter show visible and/or audible struggle or tension and an awareness of the problem leading to anxiety, frustration or anger. Stutters might refuse to talk, avoid eye contact when talking or limit the talking they will do, especially outside of home.
What causes stuttering?
A number of factors are believed to play a role in the development and maintenance of stuttering. These factors can be grouped and classified as constitutional, environmental and communication factors. There is evidence that stuttering is due to a disorder in the timing of the movements of speech muscles, a defect in auditory feedback, and a lack of cerebral dominance for language functions. People who stutter are very likely to have inherited their "stuttering predisposition" from their parents or grandparents, with 50 to 75 per cent of people having at least one relative who also stutters.