Colette has never had any speech delay. She even has a very advanced vocabulary for a 3-year-old. And yet, for the past few weeks, she has been stuttering more and more often. “Why has my child started stuttering?” This is often a question tinged with guilt that parents ask themselves at moments like these. Parental self-blame often equates stuttering with a parenting mistake, a lapse in attention that must be behind the disorder. Yet as complex and mysterious as stuttering may be, one thing is certain: parents, you are not to blame! That said, be careful not to create conditions that encourage it to develop. So what are the origins and causes of stuttering? And how does it show itself?

Defining stuttering

It is a neurodevelopmental disorder whose first signs appear very early in a child, from age 3 onward. Considered a motor disorder affecting the flow of speech, it results in real difficulty speaking. It is not a developmental delay, quite the opposite. Children who stutter are often children who want to do things exceptionally well. It is better described as a communication disorder than a language disorder, since it does not hinder learning to read.

This speech disturbance is persistent and fluctuating. Although it emerges during the period when speech is developing, stuttering is rarely confused with the normal hesitations and slips of a young child’s speech. It is nonetheless important to make sure that the blocks and repetitions of sounds, syllables or words are not just normal stumbling and babbling before consulting a professional.

In 90% of cases, stuttering appears before age 5

A complex disorder

As well as being difficult for the child and those around them, stuttering is inconsistent! More precisely, a person who stutters can express themselves quite fluently depending on who they are speaking to, when they are alone, or when they sing. In children, it is in fact common for the disorder to be almost non-existent at home but to show up strongly in the classroom. Finally, while it affects around 5% of children aged 2 to 6, stuttering affects only 1% of adults. These facts make the condition difficult to manage.

Origins and causes of stuttering

What if there wasn’t just one, but several origins to this speech disorder? That is, in any case, what stuttering specialists currently argue. According to them, these symptoms originate in a multitude of factors specific to each case. Even more complex, all of these predispositions may combine with one another and lead to the disorder appearing. One factor conducive to the development of stuttering is family background. Indeed, slight brain dysfunctions could lead to a language impairment.

“For a long time, and this is the reading of the symptoms suggested in The King’s Speech, it was believed that stuttering had an exclusively psychological cause. Today, we know that this doesn’t explain everything. On the contrary, for the past 5 years, we have uncovered the existence of a genetic vulnerability that predisposes someone to become a stutterer.”

Bernadette Piérart, Extraordinary Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Louvain and specialist in speech disorders.

Speech therapists point out, however, that the genetic background, which is clearly established, is only a predisposition. One or more triggers will then be needed for stuttering to appear. By genetic, it should be understood that a family member is generally found to also suffer or have suffered from stuttering. A parent who stutters triples the risk of having a child with the same speech difficulties.

From simple triggers…

Several factors encourage symptoms to appear in a child. Language acquisition difficulties or psychological problems can certainly act as triggers, but the environment also plays an important role. Excessive parental pressure around learning (speech, toilet training, giving up the pacifier…), socialisation problems at nursery or with a childminder, or relationship difficulties between siblings are all potential factors that can reveal stuttering. It can also be caused by recurring ear infections, or earwax blockages that create a temporary hearing problem and encourage symptoms to appear. Sometimes it is the birth of a brother or sister, a hospital stay, a house move, a bereavement or any other emotional trauma that triggers the stuttering.

These situations are not the origin of the disorder, but combined together, they bring about its manifestations. Without a predisposing genetic background, the child will not develop any blocks. These factors merely reveal the stuttering. Finally, be careful about how those close to the child react. If the frustration of not being able to clearly say what they mean intensifies, the disorder risks becoming worse until it becomes overwhelming.

“Stuttering appears at a time that is already very demanding in terms of learning for the young child. If they notice negative reactions when they speak (someone frowning, another person laughing), this will considerably complicate their learning, conveying the idea that speech creates tension. If their difficulties are not put into words in a soothing way, they will feel they are no longer being listened to as a conversation partner. And they will start to doubt themselves.”

Marie-Pierre Poulat, Speech Therapist

… to perpetuating contexts

These make stuttering chronic, but they are also the levers speech therapists use to overcome this speech impairment. These include family conflicts, difficulties managing daily routines, a change of pace within the family, criticism, or impatient reactions towards the child who stutters. On the parents’ side, it is important to note that the more anxious parents are about this difficulty, the more the child will stutter. In these circumstances, the child will then put in considerable effort to speak well and will lose their natural abilities. This is how stuttering insidiously takes hold.

Identifying the disorder and its forms

How can you recognise stuttering?

Let’s be clear. Stuttering is not simply repeating a word or syllable. Unlike the hesitations of a child learning to speak, stuttering is recognisable by the strong tension the child shows when speaking. When speech is no longer an automatic reflex and the child thinks ahead about how they are going to pronounce their words, the effort involved comes with blocks and breakdowns in communication. A child who stutters shows breathing difficulties when starting to speak, looks away, and sometimes shows visible tension.

The different ways of stuttering

Clonic stuttering is characterised by repeating the first letter or syllable of a word, such as “Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tata went off in the car.” or “I-I-I-I-I-I-I don’t know where she went.” Sometimes, a sound will be drawn out for a long time: “ccccccccccould you tie my shoelace please.”

In some cases, a word or small group of words is repeated in full: “You know, you know, you know, you know, you know, I’m already 4 years old.

Finally, it can also happen that the child attempts to pronounce a word, but no sound comes out of their mouth at all.

Tonic stuttering, also called a block, shows up in the same way, but with disabling physical and breathing symptoms: difficulty breathing, body movements, sweating, eye blinking, nervous facial tics…

Stuttering is a disorder that affects boys more often than girls between the ages of 2 and 3, and in the vast majority of cases, stuttering disappears on its own within a few months. Beyond age 4, it is recommended to consult a speech therapist to identify the triggering factors. The child’s therapy is accompanied by parent guidance, which is essential to putting the treatment into practice.