Stammering (stuttering) usually starts in childhood – between the ages of 3 and 5 – but most children grow out of it without any Special Treatment. About 1 in a 100 adults stammers. About 80% of adult who stammer are men.
Why Stammering Occurs...
Putting thoughts into words and then organizing speech so that the words flow well is a very complex task for the human brain. It is amazing that we do not all stammer. No one understands why stammering occurs, but a lot of research is being done to find out. It used to be thought that stress and negative experiences were the cause, but it has now been discovered that your genes have a big effect on stammering.
Stammering seldom occurs when a single word is being spoken or read, but it usually occurs at the beginning of a sentence or idea. Different parts of the brain deal with language processing and the formation of speech, and scientists are looking at the coordination between these processes. One study suggests that, in stammering, speech formation jumps the gun before the language processing has been completed. Other researchers are looking at the roles of chemicals in the brain that transmit messages between brain cells.