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From: Gary J. Rentschler
Date: 22 Oct 2007
Time: 14:26:28 -0500
Remote Name: 165.190.57.240
Jen: We see that upwards of 80% of children who stutter significantly improve (with or without treatment) to the point where they are no longer considered to stutter. However, the window of this recover seems to "close" around 12-13 years of age, and for most, earlier than that. Unscientifically, it seems that stuttering becomes "fixed" as concern and angst begins to grow over its existence and minimal ability to control it. I would call this a "trend", however, rather than a proven fact. It seems to be when stuttering impacts the person (he/she thinks of themself as a person who stutters)and begins to integrate into the personality, that it "sets" and never completely goes away. One can learn to manage it effectively, but there is almost always at least a component of stuttering lurking about in the thoughts or speech of the individual. We also know that there seems to be an hereditary component to stuttering is about half the people who stutter. So if you have a relative that stutters, the likelihood may be greater that an offspring will also stutter. My thoughts about stuttering therapy are that the speech techniques we use serve to enable the speaker to gain more control over their stuttering. They then fear the consequences of stuttering (involuntarily) less, become less anxious about speaking, and stutter less. This is sort of reversing the cycle that often cause stuttering to become more pronounced. More normal attitudes about speaking can return, replacing the fears associated with stuttering. So I look at using the speech techniques as an intermediate step, rather than the end goal. My personal philosophy is that stuttering will never go away, so be as completely prepared for its return as you can. Hope that helps.