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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
Researchers don't know the causes of stuttering, but factors that may cause stuttering include:
- Genetics. The fact that stuttering tends to run in families suggests there may be an underlying genetic cause.
- Language development. Stuttering affects many children as they learn to speak (developmental stuttering). Young children may stutter when their speech and language abilities aren't developed enough to keep up with what they want to say. Most children outgrow developmental stuttering, often within four years.
- Signal difficulties. Stuttering may occur because the signals between a person's brain and the nerves and muscles that control speech aren't working properly (neurogenic stuttering). This type of stuttering can occur in children, but it also may affect people who have had a stroke or other brain injury. Rarely, neurogenic stuttering may be the result of structural abnormalities (lesions) in the motor speech area of the brain.
Stuttering often gets worse when you're excited, tired or under stress, or when you feel self-conscious, hurried or pressured. Speaking in front of a group or talking on the telephone can be particularly difficult.
Although it's not clear why, most people who stutter can speak without stuttering when they talk to themselves and when they sing or speak in unison with someone else.
- Ropper AH, et al. Normal development and deviations in development of the nervous system. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3634622. Accessed July 12, 2009.
- Prasse JE, et al. Stuttering: An overview. American Family Physician. 2009;77:1271.
- Stuttering. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/stutter.htm. Accessed July 11, 2009.
- Stuttering. American Speech-Language Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering.htm. Accessed July 11, 2009.
- 7 tips for talking with your child. The Stuttering Foundation. http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=632. Accessed July 12, 2009.
