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From: Ken St. Louis
Date: 10/7/02
Time: 10:34:07 AM
Remote Name: 157.182.12.205
Hi Sam,
Why some people start stuttering early and why some start late has always been a puzzle. Let me try to clarify a few things, although I won't able to answer the why question above, for that will require a lot more years of careful longitudinal research.
Most stuttering begins in childhood, around the ages of 3-4 years. Also, most recoveries occur in childhood. During the first year, about 30% of these preschoolers who start to stutter will recover within one year, often after only a few weeks or months of stuttering. Another 50% will recover by the time they are late adolescents or adults, most in the middle childhood years. This leaves 20% who will become chronic stutterers.
But these spontaneous recovery data do not apply as well to those who begin to stutter sometime later than preschool ("since day one" in your message). Children can begin to stutter all through the elementary school period and even through high school, although the frequency of such onsets decreases with age. There are even instances of onset all through adulthood. For example, in a book that I recently published with stories of people who stutter, one 91-year old great-grandmother began to stutter quite mysteriously!
As I mentioned, careful longitudinal research will no doubt shed light on whether or why those who begin to stutter later in life are more or less likely to persist in their stuttering. Off the cuff, however, I would say that it would have most to do with the type of stuttering symptoms and severity. In general, more severe stuttering is associated with persistent stuttering.
I did not answer your question but maybe this helps a little.
Ken