No stuttering

[jamesm]

Does anyone hear still stutter if they are talking in an empty room, where no one can here them? It is my understanding that no one stutters unless there are speaking to be heard. This would explain why we don't stutter while talking in unison with other people. The pressure is not on our voice but the voice of many. I know that when I talk alone, where no one can hear me, I NEVER stutter, NEVER! But the minute some one walks in the room or I know that other people are listening, the stuttering shows itself. If we can figure out why we only stutter when we know someone is listening we can maybe begin to overcome our stutters. Why are we only affected with this stuttering thing when other people are around? Thats why I strongly believe that stuttering is ONLY a communication disorder and not a speech disorder. A speech disorder would imply that we can NEVER talk 100% fluently, when I, and I suspect others like me, ALWAYS talk fluently except when another person is listening.

What do yall think?

[Nemo]

A minority of stutterers actually do stutter even when alone, and this is supposed to be a sign of severity. The reason why most stutterers are fluent when alone seems to be clear - it is because their stress level is significantly lower when they have no listeners. There is no communication stress, no pressure to be heard and understood.

In the case of those who stutter when alone - the stuttering seems to be so deeply established that the act of speaking in itself, irrespective of any listener(s), creates sufficient physical and/or psychological stress for them to result in stuttering.

I believe that one can only understand stuttering if you understand stress.

[Box of Clocks]

I often read aloud to myself while alone and I stutter sometimes while doing this.

[grantM]

Yes I do also and even sometimes talking aloud by myself (especially if I make myself conscious of it). Some people try to say that stuttering is caused by anxiety and the fact that you can read out loud in a room by yourself is proof....sorry it is not

[Asgb]

When I read something by myself I don't really stutter, - Thanks God.
Also when I sing.

When I am with my family i stutter less then 5% of the time.

When I am with other people it Increases and its hard to start off the first letter of a sentence and sometimes i have to replace words. I also become more afraid.

On the phone its hard to say the first word-only when I'm afraid, If I'm not i'll be more fluent.

[BenThereDidThaT]

Evidence has shown over and over again that stuttering is not caused by stress. Stress can accentuate its effects, but is not the main cause of it. Think about it, if stuttering was caused by stress, there would be millions and millions of people with fluency issues, but there are only several million of us.

[andre]

speaking alone is just fine, i dont stutter at all, but reading aloud when i am alone is terrible, and when i am not alone it is just a way better! o.O

[Nemo]

Evidence has shown over and over again that stuttering is not caused by stress. Stress can accentuate its effects, but is not the main cause of it. Think about it, if stuttering was caused by stress, there would be millions and millions of people with fluency issues, but there are only several million of us.

Quite correct. Stuttering is not just caused by stress. There must be another factor involved. Some people, me included, believe that stuttering is caused by malfunctioning vocal folds. According to this theory, some people are born with an inherited tendency to direct their stress to the muscles of their vocal folds which then lock due to the stress. The repetitions of stuttering are simply learned, conditioned efforts to release the locked vocal folds.