Stammering is inability speak in typical fluent manner. It is a speech disorder that leads to repeating or prolonging a word, syllable or phrase or stopping during the speech and making no sound for certain syllables. Boys are more likely to stutter than the girls.

Stress, fatigue and excitement make the stammering worse.

The child with stammering will experience hesitancies, silent pauses and has frequent struggled behaviors in the form of repetitions, prolongations and hard vocal attacks. The stammering are often accompanied by facial grimaces.

Symptoms of stuttering:

• Difficulty in starting a word, sentence or phrase.
• Repetition of a sound, syllable or word.
• It can be accompanied by rapid eye blinks, tremors of lips or jaws.
• Tension, tightness or movement of the face or upper body.

 

Causes:

• Stammering often runs in family.
• Language development: It affects many children as they learn to speak (developmental stuttering).
• Signal difficulties: It may occur because the signals between a person’s brain and nerves and muscles that control speech are not working properly (neurogenic stuttering). It can affect children and also seen in the persons who had stroke or brain injury. Neurogenic stuttering may be result of abnormal tissue (lesions) in the motor speech area of brain.

 

It gets worse during excitement, tiredness, under stress, hurried or pressured.

When to see a doctor:

• If the stammering lasts for more than 6 months.
• If it occurs more frequently.
• If it occurs with facial tension or tightness.
• If it occurs with other facial or body movements.
• If it continues beyond 5 years of age.
• If it causes emotional problems like fear, avoidance of situations in which the child has to talk.

 

Treatment: Speech therapy will help.