Stuttering Factsheet

8/14/2019 Stuttering Factsheet

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What is stuttering?

Who stutters?

How is speech normally produced?

Stuttering is a speech disorder in which sounds,

syllables, or words are repeated or prolonged,

disrupting the normal ow o speech. These speech

disruptions may be accompanied by struggling

behaviors, such as rapid eye blinks or tremors o the

lips. Stuttering can make it difcult to communicate

with other people, which oten aects a persons

quality o lie.

Symptoms o stuttering can vary signifcantly

throughout a persons day. In general, speaking

beore a group or talking on the telephone may make

a persons stuttering more severe, while singing,

reading, or speaking in unison may temporarily

reduce stuttering.

Stuttering is sometimes reerred to as stammering and

by a broader term, disfuentspeech.

Roughly three million Americans stutter. Stuttering

aects people o all ages. It occurs most oten in

children between the ages o 2 and 5 as they are

developing their language skills. Approximately

5 percent o all children will stutter or some period

in their lie, lasting rom a ew weeks to several years.

Boys are twice as likely to stutter as girls; as they get

older, however, the number o boys who continue to

stutter is three to our times larger than the number

o girls. Most children outgrow stuttering. About

1 percent or less o adults stutter.

We make speech sounds through a series o precisely

coordinated muscle movements involving breathing,

phonation (voice production), and articulation

(movement o the throat, palate, tongue, and lips)

(see fgure). Muscle movements are controlled by the

brain and monitored through our senses o hearing

and touch.

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NIDCD Fact Sheet

Stuttering

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language

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How is stuttering diagnosed?

How is stuttering treated?

What causes stuttering?

Stuttering is usually diagnosed by a speech-language

pathologist (SLP), a health proessional who is trained

to test and treat individuals with voice, speech, and

language disorders. The speech-language pathologist

will consider a variety o actors, including the childs

Although there is currently no cure or stuttering, there

are a variety o treatments available. The nature o

the treatment will dier, based upon a persons age,

communication goals, and other actors. I you or your

child stutters, it is important to work with a speech-

language pathologist to determine the best treatment

options.

For very young children, early treatment may prevent

developmental stuttering rom becoming a lielong

problem. Certain strategies can help children learn to

improve their speech uency while developing positive

attitudes toward communication. Health proessionalsgenerally recommend that a child be evaluated i he

or she has stuttered or three to six months, exhibits

struggle behaviors associated with stuttering, or has a

amily history o stuttering or related communication

disorders. Some researchers recommend that a child

be evaluated every three months to determine i the

stuttering is increasing or decreasing. Treatment oten

involves teaching parents about ways to support their

childs production o uent speech. Parents may be

encouraged to:

Although the precise mechanisms are not

understood, there are two types o stuttering that

are more common. (A third type o stuttering, called

psychogenic stuttering, can be caused by emotional

trauma or problems with thought or reasoning. At one

time, all stuttering was believed to be psychogenic, but

today we know that psychogenic stuttering is rare.)

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Developmental stuttering occurs in young children

while they are still learning speech and language

skills. It is the most common orm o stuttering. Some

scientists and clinicians believe that developmental

stuttering occurs when a childs speech and language

abilities are unable to meet the childs verbal demands.

Developmental stuttering also runs in amilies, but

researchers have yet to identiy a specifc gene orgenes involved. More inormation on the genetics o

stuttering can be ound in the research section o this

act sheet.

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Neurogenic stuttering may occur ater a stroke, head

trauma, or other type o brain injury. With neurogenic

stuttering, the brain has difculty coordinating the

dierent components involved in speaking because

o signaling problems between the brain and nerves

or muscles.

case history (such as when the stuttering was frst

noticed and under what circumstances), an analysis

o the childs stuttering behaviors, and an evaluation

o the childs speech and language abilities and the

impact o stuttering on his or her lie.

When evaluating a young child or stuttering, a

speech-language pathologist will try to predict i the

child is likely to continue his or her stuttering behavior

or outgrow it. To determine this dierence, the speech-

language pathologist will consider such actors as

the amilys history o stuttering, whether the childs

stuttering has lasted six months or longer, and whether

the child exhibits other speech or language problems.

NIDCD Fact Sheet

Stuttering

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Provide a relaxed home environment that allows

many opportunities or the child to speak. This

includes setting aside time to talk to one another,

especially when the child is excited and has a lot

to say.

Rerain rom reacting negatively when the child

stutters. Instead, parents should react to the

stuttering as they would any other difculty the

child may experience in lie. This may involve

gentle corrections o the childs stuttering and

praise or the childs uent speech.

Be less demanding on the child to speak in a

certain way or to perorm verbally or people,

particularly i the child experiences difculty during

periods o high pressure.

Speak in a slightly slowed and relaxed manner.

This can help reduce time pressures the child may

be experiencing.

Listen attentively when the child speaks and wait

or him or her to say the intended word. Dont

try to complete the childs sentences. Also, help

the child learn that a person can communicate

successully even when stuttering occurs.

Talk openly and honestly to the child about

stuttering i he or she brings up the subject. Let

the child know that it is okay or some disruptions

to occur.

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Many o the current therapies or teens and adults

who stutter ocus on learning ways to minimize

stuttering when they speak, such as by speaking

more slowly, regulating their breathing, or gradually

progressing rom single-syllable responses to longer

words and more complex sentences. Most o these

therapies also help address the anxiety a person who

stutters may eel in certain speaking situations.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not

approved any drug or the treatment o stuttering.

However, some drugs that are approved to treat

other health problemssuch as epilepsy, anxiety, or

depressionhave been used to treat stuttering. These

drugs oten have side eects that make them difcult

to use over a long period o time. In a recent study

unded by the National Institute on Deaness and

Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), researchers

concluded that drug therapy has been largely

ineective in controlling stuttering. Clinical trials o

other possible drug treatments are currently underway.

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Some people who stutter use electronic devices to

help control uency. For example, one type o device

fts into the ear canal, much like a hearing aid, and

digitally replays a slightly altered version o the wearers

voice into the ear so that it sounds as i he or she

is speaking in unison with another person. In some

people, electronic devices help improve uency in a

relatively short period o time. Nevertheless, questions

remain about how long such eects may last and

whether people are able to easily use these devices in

real-world situations. For these reasons, researchers

are continuing to study the long-term eectiveness o

these devices.

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Many people fnd that they achieve their greatest

success through a combination o sel-study and

therapy. Sel-help groups provide a way or people


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Where can I fnd additional inormation?

What research is being conductedon stuttering? The NIDCD maintains a directory o organizations

that provide inormation on the normal and

disordered processes o hearing, balance, smell, taste,

voice, speech, and language. Please see the list o

organizations at http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/directory.

Use the ollowing keywords to help you search or

organizations that can answer questions and provide

printed or electronic inormation on stuttering:

Stuttering

Speech-language pathologists

Researchers around the world are exploring ways

to improve the early identifcation and treatment o

stuttering and to identiy its causes. For example,

scientists are working to identiy the possible gene or

genes responsible or the types o stuttering that tend

to run in amilies. NIDCD scientists have identifed a

section o chromosome 12 that is linked to stuttering

in a group o Pakistani amilies. They have also

identifed a group o amilies in Cameroon in which

stuttering occurs in a simple pattern o inheritance,

caused perhaps by a single gene. The researchers

are now working to identiy the gene or genes that

underlie stuttering in these amilies.

Researchers are working to help speech-language

pathologists determine which children are most likely

to outgrow their stuttering and which children are

at risk or continuing to stutter into adulthood. In

addition, researchers are examining ways to identiy

groups o individuals who exhibit similar stuttering

patterns and behaviors that may be associated with a

common cause.

Scientists are using brain imaging tools such as PET

(positron emission tomography) and unctional MRI

(magnetic resonance imaging) scans to investigate

brain activity in people who stutter. NIDCD-unded

researchers also are looking at brain imaging as a

way to help treat people who stutter. Researchers

are studying whether volunteer patients who stutter

can learn to recognize, with the help o a computer

program, specifc speech patterns that are linked

to stuttering and to avoid using those patterns

when speaking.

who stutter to fnd resources and support as they ace

the challenges o stuttering.

For more inormation, additional addresses and phone

numbers, or a printed list o organizations, contact:

NIDCD Inormation Clearinghouse

1 Communication Avenue

Bethesda, MD 20892-3456

Toll-ree Voice: (800) 241-1044

Toll-ree TTY: (800) 241-1055

E-mail: [email protected]

NIDCD supports and conducts research and research training on the

normal and disordered processes o hearing, balance, smell, taste,

voice, speech, and language and provides health inormation, based

upon scientifc discovery, to the public.

hearing,

balance

smell,

taste

voice,speech,

language

NIDCD Fact Sheet: Stuttering

Publication No. 08-4232

Updated October 2008

For more inormation, contact:

NIDCD Inormation Clearinghouse1 Communication Avenue

Bethesda, MD 20892-3456

Toll-ree Voice: (800) 241-1044

Toll-ree TTY: (800) 241-1055

Fax: (301) 770-8977

E-mail: [email protected]

Internet: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov

The NIDCD Inormation Clearinghouse is a service o the

National Institute on Deaness and Other Communication

Disorders, National Institutes o Health, U.S. Department

o Health and Human Services.

Documents

Stuttering Factsheet