As was mentioned earlier, stammering generally emerges at a time when a child's language system is developing rapidly. It has been suggested that this dramatic increase in language skills may overload the fluency system and supports the remark frequently made by parents that "his brain is going faster than his mouth".
There does seem to be quite a lot of evidence linking children's speech and language development to stammering. In fact, some researchers are fairly convinced that there may be an underlying speech or language problem which has been masked or hidden by the time the stammering starts.
Like all factors in stammering, this doesn't seem to be the case for all children. Some are a bit slower in their talking while others seem to be very advanced. The researchers will have to explain that more clearly!
However, one thing that we do notice in the clinic is that when children try to use complicated language, they will often stammer more. Also when they are being asked to explain things, or are excited about retelling some story, perhaps trying to go quickly - then the fluency can break down.
Fluency seems to break down more frequently on longer words and in more complicated sentences. It is more likely to occur at the beginning of a sentence or phrase and with less familiar words.
Social And Environmental Factors
