Thoughts on stuttering as a disability

First, it must be established that stuttering or stammering is an established speech disorder. People who stutter have the flow of their speech disrupted by involuntary repetitions of and prolonged sounds, syllables, words, or phrases coupled with halting, pauses, or blocks in which the person is unable to produce any sound, says behavioral medicine professional Curtis Cripe, Ph.D.

Like other speech disorders, stuttering is either a paralysis or a physical weakness of the speech muscles, causing the afflicted person to have difficulty saying words and sentences. These disruptions in the production of speech sounds are called disfluencies and are often caused by aphasia, nerve damage, or brain damage. According to The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, it starts during childhood and in certain cases, lasts a lifetime.

Neurologists and speech specialists have yet to come up with a conclusive and definitive cause for stuttering. But experts working with modern brain imaging devices like MRIs and PET scanners have discovered that stuttering is associated with the mutation of four genes. They now estimate that the prevalence of the condition among families is because 50 to 70% of stuttering is genetic in nature.

To emphasize, under the terms of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), stuttering falls under a disability. It’s another issue if a person is denied a position for a job that they can handle because of having the speech disorder. Many lawyers would contend that such will amount to discrimination. However, this is a sensitive topic that requires further study, Dr. Curtis Cripe adds.

Dr. Curtis Cripe has behind him a diverse multidisciplinary professional and academic background, having worked in aerospace, engineering, software development, bioengineering, addiction recovery, psychophysiology, psychology, and child neurodevelopment. For more insights on neurological disorders, click this link.