Causes of Stuttering

Researchers currently believe that stuttering is caused by a combination of factors, including genetics, language development, environment, as well as brain ... Noonespeaksperfectlyallthetime—weallexperiencedisruptionsinourspeech.Forpeoplewhostutter,thesedisruptions,ordisfluencies,aremoresevereandexperiencedmoreconsistently.Forsome,stutteringgoesawayinchildhood,forothers,itpersiststhroughoutadulthood.Whyisthis? Researcherscurrentlybelievethatstutteringiscausedbyacombinationoffactors,includinggenetics,languagedevelopment,environment,aswellasbrainstructureandfunction[1].Workingtogether,thesefactorscaninfluencethespeechofapersonwhostutters. Stuttering: Explained ::Causes:: Treatment Myths Facts Support StutteringandLanguageDevelopment Stutteringmostoftenbeginsbetweentheagesoftwoandeight,whenchildren’slanguageabilitiesarerapidlyexpanding.Manychildrenwhostuttermayknowexactlywhattheywanttosay,buttheirmotorpathwaysaren’tquitereadytogetthewordsout. Aschildrenproducelongerandmorecomplexsentences,theirbrainexperienceshigherdemand.Thisincreaseddemandcanaffectthemotorcontrolnecessarytoproducespeech.Whenmotorpathwayscan’tkeepupwithlanguagesignals,stutteringcanoccur. Whiletherapidlanguagedevelopmentoccurringinyoungchildrenmakesthemmoresusceptibletodisfluencies,allchildrendevelopdifferently.Somechildrenwhostutterhaveadditionalproblemsthatmaycontributetodisfluency,suchasspeechandlanguagedelays,ADHD,andlearningdisabilities.Fordevelopingchildren,ageneticdispositiontostutteringcombinedwithenvironmentalfactorsmaycausetheirdisfluenciestoincreaseovertimeandpersistintoadulthood. BrainActivityinPeopleWhoStutter Whilenoonefactordeterminesstuttering,thepredominatetheorysuggeststhatacombinationofgenetics,languagedevelopment,andtheenvironmentcaninfluencethebrainactivityofpeoplewhostutter. Theareasofthebrainresponsibleforlanguagemaylookandworkdifferentlyinpeoplewhostutter.Findingsfrombrainimagingstudiesindicatethatthereismorerighthemisphereactivityinadultswhostutter,withlessactivityinthelefthemisphereareastypicallyresponsibleforspeechproduction.Somepeoplewhostutterhavemoredifficultyprocessingauditoryinformationandslowerreactiontimesonsensory-motortasks.Ingeneral,researchhasshownthatthepathwaysinthebrainresponsibleforlanguagelookandfunctiondifferentlywhenstutteringoccurs. GeneticFactors Familyhistoriesofstutteringdemonstratethatstutteringrunsinfamiliesandisinfluencedbygeneticfactors.Childrenwhostutter,forexample,oftenhaverelativeswhostutter.Identicaltwinssharingtheexactsamegeneticmakeuphavemoresimilarpatternsofstutteringthanfraternaltwins.Wealsoknowthatstutteringaffectsmalesmorethanfemalesandthatfemalesarelesslikelytocontinuestutteringasadults. Researchershaven’tpinpointedaspecificgenethat’ssolelyresponsibleforstuttering.However,it’spossiblethatifyoucarrycertaingeneticmaterial,youmaybemorelikelytostutter. EmotionsandtheEnvironment Aschildrenbecomeawareoftheirdisfluencies,negativefeelingsrelatedtospeakingmayincreasetensionandfurtheraffecttheirabilitytocommunicate.Dependingontheirtemperament,somechildrenmayexperiencemoreemotionalarousalandanxietywhenspeakingthanothers. Emotionalfactorsaredifficulttomeasure,andcannotbeconsideredtheprimarycauseofstuttering.However,negativeemotionsmayplaceanadditionalcognitiveburdenonchildrenwhostutterduringacriticalperiodoflanguagedevelopment. AcquiredStuttering Mostpeoplewhostutterbeginstutteringinchildhood,duringthedevelopmentalperiodinwhichtheyarelearningtocommunicate.Inmorerarecases,stutteringistheresultofbraininjuryorseverepsychologicaltrauma.Thisformofstuttering,knownas“acquired”stuttering,differsfromdevelopmentalstutteringinbothitscausesandmanifestations. CommonMyths TherearemanyCommonMythsthatincludetheoriesaboutwhatcausesstuttering.It’simportanttorememberthatnosinglecausehasbeenfoundforstuttering: Stutteringisnotcausedbychildren’sparents Stutteringisnotcausedbypointingoutachild’sdisfluencies Stutteringisnotapsychologicalproblem(althoughitmayhavepsychologicaleffects) Stutteringisnotasignofbraininjuryorreducedintelligence Stutteringisnotcausedbylearninganotherlanguage(althoughitmaypresentdifferentlyinbilinguals) Mostimportantly,stutteringisnoone’sfault! Originalmaterialprovidedby:LesleeDean,M.A.inLatinAmericanStudies,MS-SLPstudentatFloridaInternationalUniversityandAngelaM.Medina,Ph.D.,CCC-SLP. [1]Smith,A.&Weber,C.(2017).Howstutteringdevelops:Themultifactorialdynamicpathwaystheory. JournalofSpeech,Language,andHearingResearch, 60(9),2483-2505. Previous:Explained Next:Treatment ©2022NationalStutteringAssociation|PrivacyPolicy