Stuttering affects more than 70 million people across the globe. Men and women from every culture can relate to the painful experience of trying to express themselves but physically or mentally not being able to. Speech pathologists have been working with stuttering patients for years, and we now have more knowledge and tools to fight stuttering before it takes over a person's life. 

Types of Stuttering

Doctors have determined that there are four types of stuttering:

• developmental- most common form of stuttering that occurs during a child's language development. 
• neurogenic- a form of stuttering that occurs because of a lack of proper communication between the brain and our muscles/nerves. This can be a result of a birth defect, or it can develop after a stroke or other medical trauma. 
• psychogenic- a form of stuttering that occurs after a traumatic event. This is rare, and it is treated the same as developmental stuttering. 
• pharmacological- a form of stuttering that occurs as a side effect of a medication.

Signs of Stuttering Problem

The signs of stuttering are easy to spot. You will be able to hear the stuttering and the struggle when the patient speaks. They may even repeat words or phrases, and you may also notice that the person doesn't want to speak at all or gets angry when trying to speak. Pay attention to evidence of any other speech problems or communication problems that have developed. 

Causes

There are a number of reasons that stuttering can inflict someone. Examples include:

• genetics
• stress
• neurophysiology
• development problems
• immobility of tongue

Getting Help

Speech therapy has proven to be a very effective form of treatment for patients who have stuttered for extended periods of time, stutter often, show signs of emotions problems, and have a family past of stuttering. Luckily, many children whose stutter is treated right away will experience an almost full recovery. In fact, only one in four children who experience stuttering will stutter in adulthood. 

Bring your child to a speech therapist if the above is true:

• stutter lasts more than six months
• stutter grows worse with age
• stutter prevents child from speaking or causes emotional problems
• stutter begins as an adult

Speech pathologists have a variety of exercises to help the patient gain control of their ability to speak. They also emphasize increasing the quality of life of the patient and teach them how to speak with confidence despite their condition. Contact a clinic, like Eastern Carolina Ear Nose & Throat-Head, for more help.

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