Stuttering and Stammering

Stuttering and Stammering

Stuttering also known as stammering is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds. The term stuttering is most commonly associated with involuntary sound repetition but it also encompasses the abnormal hesitation or pausing before speech, referred to by stutterers as blocks, and the prolongation of certain sounds, usually vowels and semivowels.

The term “stuttering”, as popularly used, covers a wide spectrum of severity: it may encompass individuals with barely perceptible impediments, for whom the disorder is largely cosmetic, as well as others with extremely sever symptoms, for whom the problem can effectively prevent most oral communication.

“Despite popular perceptions to the contrary, stuttering is not reflective of intelligence.”

The impact of stuttering on a person’s functioning and emotional state can be severe. Much of this goes unnoticed by the speaker, and may include fears of having to enunciate specific vowels or consonants, fears of being caught stuttering in social situations, self-imposed isolation, anxiety, stress, shame, or a feeling of “loss of control” during speech.

Stuttering is sometimes popularly associated with anxiety but there is actually no such correlation (though as mentioned social anxiety may actually develop in individuals as a result of their stuttering).

Stuttering is generally not a problem with the physical production of speech sounds or putting thoughts into words. Apart from their speech impediment, people who stutter may well be ‘normal’ in the clinical sense of the term.

Stuttering and Stammering

Anxiety, low self-esteem, nervousness, and stress therefore do not cause stuttering, although they are very often the result of living with a highly stigmatised disability and, in turn, exacerbate the problem in the manner of a positive feedback system (the proposed name for this is ‘Stuttered Speech Syndrome’.

The disorder is also variable, which means that in certain situations, such as talking on the telephone, the stuttering might be more severe or less, depending on the anxiety level connected with that activity.

Although the exact etiology of stuttering is unknown, both genetics and neurophysiology are thought to contribute.

“There are many treatments and speech therapy techniques available that may help increase fluency in some stutterers to the point where an untrained ear can not identify a problem.”

Hypnotherapy can be very effective in greatly reducing or even eliminating a stutter or stammer and/or any anxiety and boost confidence along the way.

Contact Melanie today for an appointment in confidence to suit you in private and professional surroundings.

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