Who...Who...Who Is Stammering

Stammering is a speech disorder and people often make the mistake to believe that it only consist of the repetition of syllables. It can include the repetition of one or more words, the elongation of a sound, the inability to make a sound, the insertion of a sound and other non-verbal sounds like lip smacking and clearing of the throat.

A stammerer may have better days and off days. Some days he may not stammer at all. It is also noted that they seldom stammer when singing or reciting in a group; even if they all normally stammer.

Stammering has a negative impact on the stammerer. He may experience feelings of embarrassment, shame, frustration, fear, anger, and/or guilt. Especially so amongst children who are often mocked on the playground.

Children almost always outgrow stammering and some very famous people stammered as a child.

There is no single recognizable cause for stammering. While stammering can cause stress, it is not caused by stress but can be brought on by it. And, like in the case of blushing, if the person is self-conscious about it, he may drop into a vicious circle feeding itself.

We know very little about stammering. We don’t know what causes it but we do know it is not caused by stupidity, retardedness, anxiety or nervousness. Make it easy on him and pretend not to notice it.


Examples Of Stammering
Partial and whole syllables
c…c…can you,
un…un…under the mat.

Repetition Of Whole Words
Can…can…can you do it?
I can…I can…I can do today.

Elongation Of A Letter
LLLLast night was an…
MMMMaybe we can do it.

Interjections
I can… um…um… do it now.
I want to…ah…ah sleep now.

Blocks
A period while nothing is said despite trying to do so.

Non Verbal Sounds
Taking abnormally long to start talking.
Clearing the throat before or while talking.
Smacking the lips before or while talking.