why do people stammer?

Answer 1

Stuttering, also known as stammering in the United Kingdom, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases; and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds.

Head injuries and strokes can cause repetitions, prolongations, and blocks. Rarer still are stutters induced by specific medications. Medications such as antidepressants, antihistamines, tranquilizers and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been known to affect speech in this way. While these afflictions create stutter-like conditions they do not create a stutter in the traditional sense
No single, exclusive cause of stuttering is known. A variety of hypotheses and theories suggest multiple factors contributing to stuttering.
Stuttering has been correlated with certain genes however, a genetic cause for stuttering has yet to be proven
Brain scans of adult stutterers have found several neurological abnormalities:
Another prominent view is that stuttering is caused by neural synchronization problems in the brain. Recent research indicates that stuttering may be correlated with disrupted fibers between the speech area and language planning area, both in the left hemisphere of the brain. Such a disruption could potentially be due to early brain damage or to a genetic defect.
In certain situations, such as talking on the telephone, stuttering might increase, or it might decrease, depending on the anxiety level connected with that activity.

Under stress, people's voices change. They tense their speech-production muscles, increasing their vocal pitch. They try to talk faster. They repeat words or phrases. They add interjections, also known as "filler words", such as "uh." These are normal dysfluencies
Stuttering is a developmental disorder.
Core stuttering behaviors include disordered breathing, phonation (vocal fold vibration), and articulation (lips, jaw, and tongue). Typically these muscles are overtensed, making speech difficult or impossible.

Secondary stuttering behaviors are unrelated to speech production. Such behaviors include physical movements such as eye-blinking or head jerks; avoidance of feared words, such as substitution of another word; interjected "starter" sounds and words, such as "um," "ah," "you know,"; and vocal abnormalities to prevent stuttering, such as speaking in a rapid monotone, or affecting an accent.

Much of what constitutes "stuttering" cannot be observed by the listener; this includes such things as sound and word fears, situational fears, anxiety, tension, shame, and a feeling of "loss of control" during speech. The emotional state of the individual who stutters in response to the stuttering often constitutes the most difficult aspect of the disorder.

Answer 2

The Stuttering Foundation stutteringhelp.org has free books and videos online that are a big help. Look under the resources tab.

Answer 3

It could be hereditary. It could be thinking faster than you speak. It starts off with biological reasons but ends up psychologically when you note the reactions of ppl around you when the words are not coming out well. Best thing ppl around can do is ignore the stammering & dont supply words to the stammerer. The more relaxed a person is the less he stammers.

Answer 4

There are many reasons why a person may develop a stammer:

We learn to talk by observing the people around us. This happens from birth and when our vocal chords are fully formed we start to speak. If a member of our close family has a stammering problem, there is a good chance that we could pick up their bad habits and also start to stammer. I have met many people who stammer, who inform me that somebody in their family also suffers with stammering and for some reason it is normally their father.

Many parents have stated to me, that even though they do have a stammer, that they have always been able to speak fluently to and around their child. Unfortunately children listen to conversations when we least expect it (when we think they are in bed, for example) and are likely to hear the stammer at various time, like during a phone call.

How a parent reacts when their child first starts to stammer is very important. If they are calm and patient and do not over-react, there is a good chance the child won't panic and worry. If the parent reacts shocked and responds sharply, with words to the effect of, get your words out boy, this can have a very damaging effect. The child is likely to panic and is more than likely to stammer again out of nerves and tension.

The third reason people start to stammer is a response to a shock reaction. I have in the past number of years come into contact with people who have started stammering after a serious car crash, after being mugged and even after giving birth.

The fourth reason is copying someone else who has a stammer. I have heard in a number of cases where children have started to stammer after copying a friend at school. This friend had a stammer, and they copied them as if it was some kind of game. In one story I heard, a fluent man joined the navy, accompanying him on the ship was a man who had a stammer. During one trip overseas, the fluent person constantly mocked and mimicked the stammerer, and to his horror, by the end of the trip could not stop stammering himself. He eventually ended up killing himself, so the story goes..

Answer 5

Hey there.

There is currently no known cause for stammering/stuttering. Any obvious link which has been investigated such as; heriditry, environment, genes, life experiences have never shown a specific cause.

However what IS known, is what makes stammering worst. Fear, Panic, Excitement - any major 'feeling' which boosts anxiety will cause a stammerer to stammer worst and even non-stammerers to show stammering characteristics.

Answer 6

First, I must say that I‘m not a specialist in language problems so my
knowledge about stuttering is quite limited. One important thing about
this problem is to differentiate between stuttering and developmental
dysfluency. In stuttering, the tempo is faster than normal, a vocal
tension is often apparent and frustration may be present whereas in
developmental dysfluency, those problems are nearly absent (1). Moreover,
the duration and frequency of syllable repetition is more important in
stuttering; developmental dysfluency is usually characterized by
repetition of whole words rather than syllable. Since your question is
about the possible mechanisms underlying stuttering, they are not
completely known but several hypotheses are proposed. One of them is that
a neurophysical problem disrupts the precise timing required to produce
speech (2), which may be hereditary (3, 4). Some problems with auditory
processing are also probably involved in (at least some forms of)
stuttering. In a recent activation study (5), comparisons are made between
people who stutter and some that do not in order to be precise which brain
regions may operate in a different manner between the two groups. Results
show that differences exist in the more or less active brain regions
associated with stuttering. In general, brain regions that seem to be
implicated in stuttering are the motor regions of the mouth, the frontal
speech areas (Broca’s area), the insula, some temporal auditory areas and
the cerebellum. Interestingly, brain areas associated with stuttering
seem to be located in the right hemisphere (except for the cerebellum)
although it is well known that the left hemisphere integrity is usually
crucial for normal language capacities.

I don’t know if some differences may exist when a person speaks
two different languages. If so, I think that the way and moment that the
second language is acquired as well as the precise nature of stutter
problem (i.e. developmental, neurological, following vascular accident
etc…) must be considered. I have look for more precise studies about that
but I did not find anything.

I hope that help!

Eric


(1)Van Riper C. The nature of stuttering. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall, 1971:28.
(2)Guitar BE. Stuttering and stammering. Pediatr Rev 1985;7:163-8.
(3)Williams DE. Differential diagnosis of disorders of fluency. In:
Darley FL, Spriestersbach DC, eds. Diagnostic methods in speech pathology.
2d ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1978:409-38.
(4)Poulos, MG & Webster, WG. Family history as a basis for
subgrouping people who stutter. J Speech Hear Res 1991;34:5-10
(5)Fox, PT et al. Brain correlates of stuttering and syllable

Answer 7

I know for me it's because I get nervous. I have never been able to give a speech in public. I have terrible stage fright. It is like your throat is closing, your mouth gets dry and the words just won't come out properly.