Suttering Problems

STUTTERING PROBLEMS



Stuttering also known as stammering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, wordsor phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds. The term stuttering is most commonly associated with involuntary sound repetition, but italso encompasses the abnormal hesitation or pausing before speech, referred to by stutterers as blocks, and the prolongation of certain sounds, usually vowels and semivowels. For many stutterers,repetition is the primary problem. Blocks and prolongations are learned mechanisms to mask repetition, as the fear of repetitive speaking in public is often the main cause of psychological unease. Theterm “stuttering”, as popularly used, covers a wide spectrum of severity: it may encompass individuals with barely perceptible impediments, for whom the disorder is largely cosmetic, as well asothers with extremely severe symptoms, for whom the problem can effectively prevent most oral communication. The impact of stuttering on a person’s functioning and emotional state can be severe. This mayinclude fears of having to enunciate specific vowels or consonants, fears of being caught stuttering in social situations, self-imposed isolation, anxiety, stress, shame, or a feeling of “loss ofcontrol” during speech. Stuttering is sometimes popularly associated with anxiety but there is actually no such correlation (though as mentioned social anxiety may actually develop in individuals as aresult of their stuttering). Despite popular perceptions to the contrary,  stuttering is not reflective of intelligence.

Stuttering is generally not a problem with the physical production of speechsounds or putting thoughts into words. Acute nervousness and stress can trigger stuttering in persons predisposed to it, and living with a highly stigmatized disability can result in anxiety and...