Speech and Language Factors
As was mentioned earlier, stammering generally emerges at a time
when a child's language system is developing rapidly. It has
been suggested that this dramatic increase in language skills may
overload the fluency system and supports the remark frequently made
by parents that "his brain is going faster than his mouth".
There does seem to be quite a lot of evidence linking children's
speech and language development to stammering. In fact, some researchers
are fairly convinced that there may be an underlying speech or language
problem which has been masked or hidden by the time the stammering
starts.
Like all factors in stammering, this doesn't seem to be the case
for all children. Some are a bit slower in their talking while others
seem to be very advanced. The researchers will have to explain that
more clearly!
However, one thing that we do notice in the clinic is that when
children try to use complicated language, they will often stammer
more. Also when they are being asked to explain things, or are excited
about retelling some story, perhaps trying to go quickly - then
the fluency can break down.
Fluency seems to break down more frequently on longer words and
in more complicated sentences. It is more likely to occur at the
beginning of a sentence or phrase and with less familiar words.
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