What Causes Stuttering, And How It Can Be Treated By Speech Pathologists

Stuttering is a speech condition in which the patient is prone to repeat words, or more commonly parts of words, inappropriately and without apparent reason. The condition has no known cure, and can be a source of considerable social embarrassment. Stuttering can be so mild that it is barely noticeable, or it can be so severe that it can make the formulation of words and sentences virtually impossible. It is often made worse by the expectation on behalf of the sufferer themselves that they will stutter in a given situation, and the subconscious expectation can help to bring on the unwanted condition.

It is absolutely vital that everyone in society learns and realizes that stuttering is in no way related to lack of intelligence. There is no correlation whatsoever between a person's intelligence level, and their ability to form words and sentences without stuttering. The parts of the brain which are responsible for the stuttering phenomenon are totally separate from those which determine intelligence levels. There will always be some incidents where stutterers are subjected to idiotic comments from people who do not understand the nature of the condition, and it is vital that the stutterers themselves realize that the comments are borne of ignorance, and have no basis in reality.

There are three basic ways in which stuttering affects the speech of sufferers, and they are known as repetition, prolongations, and blocks. Each of these produces a different effect, but they all stem from the same root cause. Repetition is the symptom which is most closely associated with the stuttering condition, and it is the symptom which will be most commonly observed. This involves a word, or part of a word, being inappropriately repeated. A prolongation is a phenomenon where a sound which is uttered continually is extended way beyond the time it would normally be sounded for.

A block is a totally different type of phenomenon, and manifests in a symptom where the sufferer appears to be struggling to get their words out into the open. The biggest problem with a block is that the more the sufferer consciously tries to fight the condition, the worse it invariably gets. It is also possible to observe nervous habits in people who are suffering from a stuttering condition. Often, they will repeat meaningless words in the middle of sentences, and take an inordinate amount of time over producing the rest of the sentence.

Many stuttering conditions are aggravated and made worse in childhood by overbearing parents attempting to force the child to stop stuttering. Stuttering is not a condition which can be cured by force, and any attempt to do so will invariably lead to further problems. Fluency shaping therapy needs to be carried out by a qualified practitioner in a situation where the patient is completely relaxed. One of the most effective methods for combating stuttering is to get the patient to slow their speech right down, without applying any kind of force or expectation. A good speech pathologist can now make significant progress in the vast majority of cases of stuttering.

 

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