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What Are Expectancy Behaviors in Stuttering?

Stuttering is a speech disorder signified by repetitions of sounds, words and speech patterns. Though stuttering often affects children between two to five years old, people of all ages suffer from this condition. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders (NIDCD), approximately 3 million Americans stutter. Forms of stuttering include developmental, neurogenic and psychogenic, each with expectancy behaviors. You can't cure stuttering; however, speech therapy helps sufferers and children often grow out of it.

  1. Forms of Stuttering

    • Developmental stuttering occurs when children are learning to speak and develop language skills. The NIDCD says developmental stuttering is the most common form and sometimes runs in families. It also states that it happens, "when children's speech and language abilities are unable to meet a child's verbal demands." Neurogenic stuttering results when a person experiences brain injuries after suffering from a stroke, brain or spinal cord injury, neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease and tumors, according to the Stuttering Foundation of America. Psychogenic stuttering, the rarest form of stuttering, occurs when a person experiences emotional trauma.

    Verbal Behaviors

    • Stutterers exhibit multiple verbal behavior that makes it difficult for them to string words together and speak. According to "Stuttering Therapy," by Dr. Gary J. Rentschler, these behaviors include repetitions, prolongations, blocks and tremors. Repetitions are the most visible signs associated with stuttering. It sounds as if the sufferer is a scratched CD, and he repeats words, parts of words and sounds. The mind and the mouth don't seem to want to work together to string words or sentences together. Prolongations consist of temporary stops in speech patterns, usually lasting a few seconds, while blocks indicate a complete cessation of speech. "Stuttering Therapy" says tremors signify muscular tension that causes the jaw to shake rapidly. Public speeches contain verbal ticks like "uh."

    Emotional and Physical Behaviors

    • Verbal difficulties faced by stutterers manifest themselves by emotional behaviors used to cover the problem. Stutterers may become shy and withdrawn so that others don't find out about their conditions. They make excuses not to speak in public to avoid embarrassment. "Stuttering Therapy" says their muscles tense and they become anxious. When a stutterer attempts to speak in public, physical manifestations of her anxiety include rapid eyes blinking, shifting the body, head jerking, shallow breathing and sweating.

    Diagnosis and Treatment

    • Speech-language pathologists specialize in language disorders and diagnose stutterers referred to them by educators or physicians. NIDCD says speech-language pathologists take patients' history, asking questions about the onset of the conditions, under what circumstances stuttering worsens and what behaviors the patient manifests. Pathologists also ask if there is a family history of stuttering. There is no cure for stuttering, but pathologists teach stutterers strategies for managing it. Stuttering therapy includes learning to speak slower, control breathing and gradually progress from single-syllable words to long sentences, according to NIDCD.

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