This article is for informational purposes only. For medical advice on stuttering, consult a specialist in speech-language pathology.
Many prominent people struggled with a stutter in childhood, and for some, the affliction was lifelong. Among those who have been an inspiration to people coping with this disorder are Sir Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin, King George VI, and Former US President Joe Biden.
Famous actors like James Earl Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Nicole Kidman, and Bruce Willis also stuttered at a young age. Only a few people knew that off-stage, Marilyn Monroe stuttered, and her stutter persisted in her everyday life, especially if she felt nervous, stressed, or excited. She managed it well by adopting her signature slower and breathy vocal style. Elvis Presley also stuttered when he felt anxious, and he managed it as well as Marilyn did with his own unique soft-speaking and singing voice.
Emily Blunt, the award-winning actress, talks openly about her struggles with a severe stutter as a child. Early on, she discovered that when she used different accents or character voices, it helped her to be fluent. That’s the interesting thing about this disorder; when people who stutter assume a voice other than their own, sing, read in unison or in a whisper, their speech impediment completely disappears. There is no known explanation for these phenomena.
I have friends and family members who stutter, and over the years, I have had opportunities to observe the reactions of people with whom they came into contact. Most were considerate and kind; others appeared to be uncomfortable with their stutter. It’s a shame, but I think that even today, many people tend to measure the intelligence of others by the way they speak. In this regard, people couldn’t be more mistaken, as people who stutter are as intelligent and well-adjusted as those who are fluent.
There may still be a few who find stuttering amusing, but these people have a lot to learn.
What is stuttering?
For a long time, experts viewed stuttering as a psychological problem blamed on anxiety, trauma, or poor parenting. Though there is no scientific evidence to prove it, stuttering has also been described as an emotional, neurotic, and even psychosexual disorder.
In his published paper on “Stuttering, the Brain, and Emotions,” David Forster, M.Sc., wrote that “it is probably safe to say that the majority of speech scientists and speech pathologists today would view stuttering, at its core, as a physiological disorder based in the brain. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t psychological aspects of stuttering. There certainly are, and they can affect the individual’s life in a significant way. But they are secondary to the biological basis of stuttering.”
Global researchers and current guidelines from the US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) confirm that stuttering is viewed as a brain-based neurological disorder. There are two areas in the brain that control speech: Broca’s area, which is responsible for planning speech movements, and the motor cortex, which initiates and executes those physical movements. In the case of people who stutter, these areas are not making the proper connection with the mouth’s speech mechanisms
In other words, people who stutter process speech through atypical neural pathways. The disorder prevents the continual flow of speech through repetition, the prolongation of a word or a syllable, or through silent blocks sometimes accompanied by facial grimaces or jerky movements of the head.
On the issue of intelligence, a speech-language pathologist once told me she believed that some of her patients were like walking dictionaries. She claimed that over time, many developed the ability to anticipate a block on a specific sound or word, and to swap it with a synonym or safer option within a split second.
The speech-language pathologist was describing another phenomenon about stuttering known as word circumlocution – a common coping or avoidance mechanism used by some people who stutter. In situations of extreme time pressure, the operational vocabulary of a person who stutters can be extraordinarily vast, confirming a highly flexible and active mental thesaurus. Perhaps people who stutter are actually smarter than many of us who speak with fluency.
Prevalence of stuttering
According to the Denver (CO) Center for Stuttering Therapy, one percent of adults and five percent of children stutter. When stuttering begins in young children between the ages of two and five, the boy-to-girl ratio is roughly equal, but it later grows to 4:1 among older children and adults, as girls who stutter are more likely to recover from this disorder. In adults, stuttering still affects four times as many males as females.
The center also states that of the 25 percent of young children who experience a stutter during their developmental stage, only five percent are at risk of developing persistent disfluency.
Over three million Americans stutter, and according to the Canadian Stuttering Association, over 410,000 Canadians of all ages are affected by this disorder.
Is there a cure?
Throughout history, people who stutter have been subjected to a variety of therapies. These included institutionalization, psychotherapy, massage, hypnosis, electrical shock, surgery, and training in ventriloquism. Some even had to endure cruel punishment such as the forcing of needles through their tongues.
To this day, there is no magic pill or quick fix to overcome a stutter. Speech therapy is not a permanent cure for stuttering either, but working with a speech-language therapist can help individuals who stutter to manage and reduce it.
At a speech conference in Anaheim, CA, I once met Dave Taylor, a former NHL player with the LA Kings, who underwent speech-language therapy to manage a lifelong stutter. He was proud to tell me how therapy had made a significant difference in his life. As with everything else, he said, practice is key, and opportunities to experience success with fluency in public settings can only enrich and empower. He was a guest speaker at that conference, and he certainly made an impression on me.
What can you do?
Even today, most people don’t know what to do when they meet a person who stutters. All that is required is a little patience and respect. It’s that simple.
It’s never a good idea to tell a person who stutters to slow down, stop, or take a deep breath. Doing so will only put more pressure on that individual. Instead, don’t look away when the stuttering occurs, and maintain direct eye contact to show your interest in the conversation.
Lastly, it is more considerate to avoid the ‘stutterer’ label. Stuttering is simply something they do, not who they are.
The proactive approach
If you have a child who stutters, or if you teach a disfluent student, early intervention can help prevent stuttering from becoming a long-lasting challenge. Don’t wait for the stuttering to go away on its own, or for the child to develop complex speech patterns that are harder to undo. Contact a qualified speech-language pathologist for an assessment as soon as possible.
The Toronto Children’s Therapy Centre (www.torontochildrenstherapycentre.ca) has a 5-star rating, and provides a pediatric speech-language therapy program with therapists in good standing with the College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario.
Ottawa now has several speech therapy clinics for kids, a vast improvement from years ago when pediatric programs were unavailable. The College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (www.caslpo.com) recommends a search of their online public registry to find a qualified pediatric speech-language pathologist near you.
For current information and key facts on stuttering in Canada, visit the website of the Canadian Stuttering Association (www.stutter.ca) or the Stuttering Foundation of America (www.stutteringhelp.org) for free online resources and support.
Adults who connect with these organizations will find community and friends. Knowing that you are not alone can be the start of meaningful and lasting friendships.
Lise Cloutier-Steele is an Ottawa writer.
