Theories of Causes of Stuttering

Stuttering is a speech disorder with which most people are relatively familiar as it is not uncommon in both children and adults. Stuttering is a type of disfluency, a speech disorder characterized by repetitions of sounds, syllables or even entire words and phrases, by blocking of (usually initial) sounds or syllables, by prolongation of sounds or by fragmentation of phrases (Eisenson, 1986, p. 63).

Diagnosis of stuttering in young children can be problematic because children in the process of acquiring language are likely to produce some of the same symptoms of this speech disorder as a natural part of the language acquisition process. To put it another way: It can be difficult to distinguish the mistakes made by all beginning speakers from the mistakes made by those children with a chronic speech disorder. This is especially true with a disorder like stuttering because it does not occur all the time. Finally, making a diagnosis of stuttering is even more complicated because all speakers û even adults speaking their native language û have some naturally occurring disfluencies.

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unique include the fact that they are semiautomatic, they are very rapid and precise and that they are organized by the brain in such a way as to allow the speaker to produce a long series of movements that are temporally and spatially coordinated with each other (Starkweather and Givens-Ackerman, 1997, p. 75). Because no other activity requires precisely this combination of factors, it is possible for a person to stutter but to have no other disabilities. While this model may well be an accurate description of what happens during stuttering, it does not offer explanations as to why stuttering occurs in the specific individuals that suffer from it. ZimmermannÆs location of the reasons for stuttering in the purely physical realm do suggest a genetic explanation for the disability. The cause for stuttering may in fact be a genetic one, and there certainly seem to be at least a genetic component. One reason to suspect that this genetic component exists is the fact that three times as many boys are affected as girls. Also, the fact that stuttering does to some extent cluster in families suggests a genetic element to the disorder. However, it seems clear that further research must be done to determine both the physiological underpinni
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