Stuttering affects around one in every 100 people worldwide.
Interestingly four times as many men as women stutter. People who
stutter do so in different ways. The stutter may vary depending on the
situation people are in whether they are at work, home, with friends, or
with family. The feelings and thoughts that go with stuttering can
become as much a problem as the stuttering itself. Nobody is
continually fluent in their speech; the difference between someone who
stutters and someone who doesnt is the amount and types of
disfluency.
Stuttering usually starts in early childhood, between the ages of two and
five years. Approximately 4-5% of children stutter when they are
developing their speech and language skills. A number of these children
grow out of stuttering but it is impossible to predict whether this will
happen. Treatment for stuttering becomes more complex with age,
therefore early intervention is recommended to ensure a child has the
best chance of fluency as an adult.
The cause of stuttering is not known. Current research suggests that
stuttering has a neurological basis and that genetics play a part resulting
in a loss of coordination of the speech muscles. There is no reason to
believe that emotional trauma causes stuttering, nor that it is
psychological or caused by anxiety or stress. Other factors that influence
stuttering are a child s development and family dynamics. It is possible
that the factors which cause stuttering are different to the factors that
cause it to continue or worsen.
Stuttering is a disorder of verbal communication characterised by
various behaviours that interrupt the natural flow of speech. It is often
associated with feelings of a loss of control. Individuals who stutter know
exactly what they want to say, but at that very second they cannot get
the words out in the way they would like.
Repetition of sounds, syllables, words or phrases
Prolongation or stretching of sounds, syllables or words
Silences, blocks or difficulties getting a word out
Related behaviours such as tense facial muscles or unusual facial
movements, eye blinks, foot tapping or other hand or body
movements while talking.
Variability in severity of stuttering depending on the situation
Feelings of a loss of control.
Stuttering is a complex phenomenon and there is no one approach to
stuttering therapy that works for everyone. However there are a variety
of successful treatments aimed at improving fluency and gaining success
in communication. Today there are many types of treatment available
for stuttering. One of the roles of the Australian Speak Easy Association
is to support people who have had treatment to maintain the fluency
gained from treatment, or to help people manage their stutter.
Treatment of pre-school children is very effective and it is recommended
that any child who stutters undergoes assessment by a speech
pathologist.
However it should be understood that not everyone who stutters will
wish to undergo therapy and this option is OK.
The internet is a great resource for information about stuttering.
We have included some of these sites
on our links
page.
