What is stuttering?

“a temporary, involuntary interruption in the forward flow of speech, which may or may not be accompanied by physical tension, struggle behaviors, and negative feelings towards the act of speaking”

 

    • Stuttering is neurodevelopmental in nature with many different factors affecting its onset and persistence

    • Epigenetics (the way genes are expressed through internal & environmental demands) play a critical role in how stuttering develops and resolves

    • Note for the parents: you did not cause your child’s stutter.

    • Approximately 5-8% of preschoolers stutter, with about 80% of them experiencing what we call “spontaneous recovery”

    • The remaining children (who do not spontaneously recover) will continue to stutter in some capacity throughout their lifetime

    • Making up the 70 million people worldwide who stutter

    • Boys are 4x more likely to stutter than girls

  • 1) If there is a family history of stuttering

    2) If stuttering begins after age 3.5

    3) If stuttering persists for 6-12 months

    4) If there are other speech/language difficulties or delays

    5) If the environment is continually placing a high demand on the child’s communication system in multiple different areas. These are dependent on the factors relevant to the specific child.

 

  • Stuttering typically begins between the ages of 2-6, when neurodevelopment is at its peak. Support for children in this age range centers around the demands that are causing an imbalance in the child’s communication system. With the help of the parent, balancing the demands on and capacities for communication moves the child toward optimal fluency.

  • Around age 7 the “critical period” for development ends and peer acceptance becomes more socially important. Oftentimes awareness of stuttering increases here; there are many preschool children that are aware they stutter, but not to the same degree. However, it is not the awareness we have to worry about it, it is the negative feelings (frustration, embarrassment, nervousness to speak) that can come with awareness that we want to prevent. This age range is where we begin to learn about stuttering, because knowledge is power. And we turn that power into communication confidence.

  • Talk about awareness and peer acceptance. Multiply that by 10 in adolescence. In this stage, stuttering is supported very similarly to how it is in adulthood, depending on the teens maturity level, curiosity, and stuttering impact.

  • A few common scenarios:

    1. Negative speech therapy experiences: Were your past speech therapy sessions solely focused on ”fixing” your stutter? It is possible that residual negative feelings about your speech that stem from that old message of “just keep working hard and it will go away”. In reality, speech therapy should be about working “with” your stutter in order to feel confident as a speaker, instead of “working around” it or keeping it at bay. This may have perpetuated worry and negative feelings as a byproduct.

    2. New life experiences on the horizon: Changes such as a new job, graduating from school, or a change in role, can bring up anxious feelings regarding speaking and stuttering, even when the norm is to feel generally confident about your speech.

    3. A lifetime of self-treatment: Have you been trialing different ways to make stuttering easier for yourself? Often times, adults who stutter either adopt coping strategies on their own to push past the stutter or they may work hard to keep their stutter concealed by switching words, avoiding certain speaking situations, pretending they forgot, using filler words, etc. Maybe you have found strategies to cope with stuttering in the moment; however, if it comes with an increased feeling of tension, a constant fear of others noticing your stutter, constant thoughts about stuttering, or constant mental energy to use a “strategy” while speaking… it’s not the most effective option in our opinion. There is a better way to move through moments of stuttering that does rot include struggle, avoidance, or a negative mindset towards your speaking ability.

Across the lifespan.

While the impact of and support for stuttering changes from person to person, it also may change with age.

 
 
 
 
 

Stuttering Myths:

Stuttering is often misunderstood. Take a look at some of the most common misconceptions about stuttering.

Yairi & Ambrose, 2013. Singer et al., 2021. Walsh et al., 2020.