STUTTERING IS NOT A GENETIC DISORDER

Hello:

On May 20,2015 in the Toronto Globe and Mail, in the Life & Arts section on Page L7 an article entitled, --- [Research to shed light on stuttering causes, treatments.] appears.

Unfortunately the article concludes that there is a genetic component to this speech impediment.  The real cause is fear.   Each word that we utter requires a decision on our part and it is the fear of making this decision that causes the stuttering.

Many times the reasons are almost self-evident and the cure is relatively simple but other times it is very complex and it is entirely reasonable that a genetic factor should be looked upon as the cause when other reasons escape us.

A simple cause occurs when a child comes home from playing with his peers and uses the word --- fuck --- and is slapped in the face for using such a vulgar expression.   This happened far more often in the past then it does now-a-days.

Our  permissive society has caused many other problems but it has helped to reduce the incidence of stuttering in many parts of the world.   One way to know that this is happening is if the child begins to stutter when trying to say the words fun, full, furious etc.   

That is, --- any word that begins with the letters fu, because the child becomes afraid that he or she will use the profane word and be slapped again for his or her mistake.  It can even start when he tries to say any word that begins with the letter --- F.

Another problem as the child becomes older is the knowledge that when you are speaking to a group of people you are exposing your brain to the scrutiny of your listeners and this stress can also lead to stuttering.   On a minor scale but still damaging for the speakers emotional health is the nervous speaker who is shaking as they speak.

Obviously there are many reasons to develop a stutter and Josh's problem appears to be rather deeply engrained.   Obviously he is capable of long periods of fluid speech and this fact should indicate that it is not a genetic problem.   If it was it should be happening most of the time or even all of the time, --- but not so infrequently.

So it becomes necessary to determine what stresses and how much of them are responsible for his stuttering.  Keep in mind that the young boy may not be willing, or able to tell you why he stutters.

But a capable investigator can deduce clues from when he stutters and when it started to find the reasons for the stuttering and try to overcome them for the child so afflicted.

The idea that this problem has a genetic component is easily understood when one realizes that we have failed to understand that irrational and distorted reactions to fear can affect the human mind so completely.