Stuttering or stammering is a speech disorder characterized by involuntary
repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases, or by frequent
hesitations and silent pauses that disrupt the normal flow of speech, resulting in the
stutters' inability to produce sounds (WHO ICD-10, 2010). Besides involuntary sound
repetition, stuttering also includes the abnormal hesitation or pausing before speech
(referred to by stutterers as "blocks"), and the prolongation of sounds. Stuttering can
vary in severity, from barely noticeable impediments to severe symptoms that hinder
oral communication. The number of men who stutter is approximately four times as
much as that of women, encompassing 70 million people worldwide, of about 1% of
…show more content…
the world’s population (Carlson, 2001). Many famous people and celebrities have dealt with stuttering, namely Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley (The Stuttering Foundation, 2014). Stuttering can have a serious influence on a person's emotional state. This may include but not limited to fears of having to enunciate certain words and syllables, fears of being caught stuttering while talking to another person, having to substitute words to hide stuttering, anxiety, stress, shame, being bullied (especially in young children). Currently many treatments and speech therapy techniques are available to improve fluency in stutters; however, at present, there is essentialy no cure for the disorder.
As a stutter himself, the writer writes this paper to
gain an insight into this speech disorder. This paper will discuss the causes of stuttering,
its effect on a person’s feeling and attitudes, and different treatment programs to
improve one’s fluency.
2. Findings
2.1. Causes of stuttering
No single, definite cause of stuttering is known. Various theories and hypotheses5
suggest that stuttering is caused by multiple factors (Gordon, 2002). According to the
British Stammering Association, “Stammering is at root a neurological condition, based
in the wiring of the brain. Studies have shown differences in the anatomy and
functioning of the brain of those who stammer compared with most other people."
Neuroimaging studies using PET scans or functional MRI in non-stutterers show that
both hemispheres of the brain are active but that the left hemisphere may be more active.
In contrast, people who stutter have higher activity on the right hemisphere and relative
deactivation of the left hemisphere auditory areas (Bloodstein & Ratner, 2008).
Hereditary factors are also widely considered to play a role in many cases of stuttering.
Stuttering tends to run in families, as someone who has a stuttering relative is likely
to develop a stutter themselves. In 2010, the National Institutes of Health identified three genes that correlate with stuttering. There are two types of stuttering: developmental and acquired. Stuttering is typically a developmental disorder beginning in early childhood with at least a fifth of those affected continue to stutter in their adulthood (Gordon, 2002). With young stutterers, dysfluency may be periodic (periods of stuttering are followed by periods of relative fluency). Many preschool age children stutter as they are learning to talk, and most of them will have normal speech as they get older. Although symptoms may vary, early behaviors usually consist of word or syllable repetitions, with the absence of secondary behaviors such as tension, nervousness or avoidance (Ward, 2006). They may repeat certain sounds, mispronounce words, hesitate at some words, and replace sounds for each other. Although the early recovery rate is very high (Gordon, 2002), a young person who stutters may transition from easy, relaxed repetition to more tense and effortful verbal communication. In some cases, stuttering may be acquired in adulthood as the result of a neurological event such as a head injury, stroke or drug use, or a traumatic experience such as a grief or the breakup of a relationship. Unlike its developmental equivalent, acquired stuttering tends to be limited to part-word or sound repetitions, with little anxiety and secondary behaviors. It is unaffected by different speaking situations, and there is little awareness or concern shown by the speaker (Ward, 2006), contrary to developmental stutterers who often suffer from negative emotions such as tension, embarrassment, fear and shame. 2.2. The stutterers’ feelings and attitudes Stuttering can have a significant negative psychological impact on the person who stutters. Feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment, anger, frustration are frequent in stutterers. As Sheehan (2003) stated in his book “Effective Counseling in Stuttering Therapy”: Shame is an obvious occurrence in the disorder of stuttering, for the stutterer is expected to speak, and to speak fluently within normal limits, and fails to do so. In the process, he may exhibit behavior that listeners find mystifying and repellant, for talking6 always seems simple to those who have forgotten how complex the skill was to acquire in the first place. Sheehan also believes that people who stutter may also suffer from guilt for not being able to fulfill the "expectations to speak, once the stuttering behavior has emerged". Almost every stutterer is familiar with pieces of advice such as "slow down", "take a deep breath", "calm down" from the listeners. Although these recommendations stem from the good intention of the listeners, they are actually counter-productive, as they make the stutterer more aware of his or her problem, resulting in the increase of the person's anxiety and fear, which leads to yet even more difficulties with speaking (Ward, 2006). With time secondary behaviors, including abnormal jaws and lips movements, may be used, as well as avoidance and fear of sounds, words, people and different speaking situations. Eventually, many become fully aware of their disorder and identify themselves as stutterers, resulting in deep frustration, embarrassment, and shame. Stuttering children are also more likely to be victims of bullying. People who stutter often experience a low self-esteem and some might suffer from depression. Such negative feelings and attitudes may need to be a major focus of treatment programs (Guitar, 2005). 2.3. Treatment and therapy techniques At present there is no cure for stuttering; however, many treatments and speech therapy techniques are available to help increase fluency in people who stutter. The amount of speech therapy needed for each stutterer corresponds to the severity of that person's stuttering. In general, the goal of therapy is to reduce the symptoms to some extent in an individual. Some people believe a significant reduction or total elimination of stuttering is the only acceptable outcome while some think that the increase in confidence of a person in his or her ability to talk is the most important, whether he or she stutters or not (The Stuttering Foundation, 2014). There are many different approaches to stuttering therapy. One such approach is called fluency shaping, also known as prolonged speech or connected speech. This type of therapy trains people who stutter to speak fluently by controlling their breathing, phonation, and articulation (lips, jaw, and tongue) (Ward, 2006). Stutterers are taught to reduce their speaking rate by stretching consonants and vowels, and using other fluency techniques such as light articulatory contacts and continuous airflow. After the person who stutters masters these fluency skills, the speaking rate, and intonation are increased gradually. Fluency shaping therapies only focus on changing the speech of the person who stutters, and do not address the negative attitudes and feelings frequent in stutterers. Another widely known therapy is stuttering modification therapy, also known as traditional stuttering therapy, developed by Charles Van Riper between 1936 and 1958 (Ward, 2006). The goal of stuttering modification therapy is not to completely eliminate stuttering but to modify it so that stuttering is easier and less effortful. It focuses on7 reducing the severity of stuttering by changing only the portions of speech, to make them smoother, shorter, less tense and hard. This approach attempts to reduce the severity and fear of stuttering and strives to teach stutterers to stutter with control, and not to make them fluent. Therapy using this approach tends to recognize the fear and avoidance of stuttering, and consequently spend a great deal of time helping stutterers through those emotions. Stutterers can also seek help from electronic fluency devices. These devices take advantage of the 'choral effect' - a phenomenon well-known to many stutterers, who find that they can produce fluent speech when they talk in unison with other people or copy another's speech (The British Stammering Association). The device relays the stutterers’ voices back to them after either delaying slightly their voices (Delayed Auditory Feedback or DAF) or altering the frequency of the feedback (Frequencyshifted Auditory Feedback or FAF), or both. The alterations appear to produce a similar effect to speaking alongside another person. The effects of such devices vary, as some people showed significant improvement in fluency while others only improved slightly or not at all
He described stuttering as having a glass wall preventing him from moving forward, regardless of the attempts made. I believe that this is a sound description of the ongoing and difficult battle of stuttering. I also feel that many people can relate to Liben’s statement as they may also go through frustrating situations in their lives. However, it is important to remember that a person with a stutter experiences frustrating situations more frequently. Not only as a clinician, but as a human being, I will be mindful of the daily struggles that come along with a fluency
Stuttering affects the fluency of speech. Stuttering is characterized by disruptions in speech sound productions, also known as a disfluency. Mostly, stuttering has a significant effect on some daily activities. Though some people have disfluency deficits only in certain situations. Some people limit their participations in different everyday activities because they are often embarrassed or sad about their situation and are concerned about how other's will react to stuttering. In stuttered speech repetitions of words or also of parts of words are included. Prolongations of speech sounds may also occur. It is a characteristic of some people who
Blood, Blood, Maloney, Meyer, & Qualls (2007) examined the anxiety levels in adolescents who stutter to increase their understanding of the role of anxiety in stuttering across the lifespan. The participants were 36 students, chosen from public schools in Pennsylvania, who were in the 7th through 12th grade. However, only participants who have had treatment for their stuttering were included in the study. The control groups were chosen from public schools as well, and were chosen to match the stuttering participants in grade, gender, ethnicity and approximate age. To assess the stuttering severity of the participants, the Stuttering Severity Insturment-3 (SSI-3) was used. The outcomes classified the participants’ stuttering as either mild, moderate, severe, or very severe (profound). In measuring anxiety levels the researchers used the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS)....
Nowadays, it is widely known that the right and left hemisphere have different functions. The two hemispheres are equally important in a daily life basis. Nevertheless, in the 1960’s this was not common knowledge. Even though today the importance of the brain hemispheres is common knowledge, people don’t usually know to whom attribute this findings. One of the people who contributed to form a more defined picture about the brain hemispheres and their respective functions was Roger Wolcott Sperry, with the split brain research. Roger Sperry did more contributions than the split brain research, but this is his most important and revolutionary research in the psychological field. Thanks to the split brain research, Sperry proved that the two hemispheres of the brain are important, they work together and whatever side of the brain is more capable of doing the task is the hemisphere that takes the lead.
Studies have also shown that OCD is also familial and runs in families. The families of a person who is diagnosed with OCD have higher risk of developing OCD and tics disorders, which are repetitive movements and sounds, than does the general population. Studies have proved that parents, siblings and children of a person with OCD, have higher risk of developing OCD than does someone with no family history of the disorder, but this may only be correct for some kinds of OCD. For example, familial factors include the age of onset, which is that childhood-onset OCD have a tendency to run in families, and family history of tic-related disorders like Tourette’s disorder. Tourette’s disorder is a disorder, which causes a person to make repetitive movements and sounds that they cannot control.
...hese children were unfairly target for this research because they were institutionalized I believe that Johnson studied was to biased because he was so determine to find a cure that will help him in the long run instead of reviewing the facts. In reality, stuttering can caused by different things such as environmental, biological factor, or genetic. In Johnson, case he already had hypothesis in mind and he was too determine to prove his hypothesis instead of reviewing the facts.
is a hereditary predisposition to this disorder. Also, the way a child is raised can greatly increase
According to ASHA, more than 2 million people in the United States have a severe communication disorder that impairs their ability to talk. This problem may be short or long term, and may be congenital (present at birth), acquired (occurring later in late), or degenerative (worsening throughout life). Some disorders could be from lack of oxygen at during the birth process, premature birth, genetic disorders, Cerebral Palsy while others may be caused by aTraumatic Brain Injury, or degenerative diseases.
"Stuttering is something the stutterer does, not something he has, because of something he is." --Wendell Johnson
For example one question was, “does it prevent me from doing ordinary things?” It’s a yes and no answer because I still walk, and run it does not prevent me from doing things physical things, but when it comes to talking it’s a little bit more difficult and I struggle more. Stuttering makes things more challenging which is alright but you have to work more on how you talk. “Why can’t you speak correctly?” That is another question that anyone can ask and the truth is that it is a disorder in our speech sound of word, we repeat some of the words. “How does it feel to stutter?” To me as a stutter person it affects emotionally because sometimes I rather be quite and prevent talking and embarrassing myself. It affects us because of the way we communicate, it is not easy but we try to make it fluently as possible. (Question
First off, dyslexia is caused by several different factors. One of which is, being passed down through family genes. In fact, forty-nine percent
Stammering as King George calls it in the movie, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disturbed by spontaneous repetition of sounds and sudden pauses. Stammering and stuttering as we know it are the exact same thing. King George VI wasn't born with a speech impediment he obtained it and adapted it through his childhood which concludes that there must have been a childhood problem that triggered the stammering. Stress in an environment can harm the production and the development of the brain. A lack of mental stimulation in neglectful/ stressful environments may limit the brain from developing to its full potential.
Ongoing research has tried to pinpoint exact reasons as to why there is speech impairment for those with aphasia and other language disorders. Most theories suggest genetic and environmental implications. Is the speech disability some sort of defect from within the brain, or does the disability develop as a result of influence from your surroundings and lack of nurture from others?
Heredity-Learning disabilities have been known to run in families. Children with LD are likely to have parents, siblings, or other relatives who have LD.
...re of the brain is just half of the brain so why is it the only half being explored in school? This failure to confront the other hemisphere causes weakening in the right hemisphere since the right hemisphere isn?t being exercised.