List of Stutterers

List Of Stutterers

Stuttering (alalia syllabaris), also known as stammering (alalia literalis or anarthria literalis), is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases, and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds. The exact etiology of stuttering is unknown; both genetics and neurophysiology are thought to contribute. There are many treatments and speech therapy techniques available that may help increase fluency in some stutterers to the point where an untrained ear cannot identify a problem; however, there is essentially no cure for the disorder at present.

Some stutterers include British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, orator Demosthenes, King George VI, actor James Earl Jones, and country singer Mel Tillis. Churchill, whose stutter was particularly apparent to 1920s writers, was one of the 30% of stutterers who have an associated speech disorder—a lisp in his case—yet led his nation through World War II. Demosthenes stammered and was inarticulate as a youth yet through dedicated practice, such as by placing pebbles in his mouth, became a great orator of Ancient Greece. King George VI was so embarrassed by his public speaking that he hired speech therapist Lionel Logue and greatly improved his public speaking. This training and its results are the focus of the 2010 film The King's Speech. James Earl Jones has stated he was mute for many years of his youth yet he became an actor noted for the power of his voice. Mel Tillis stutters when talking but not when singing. Many people had their speech impediment only as a child and have overcome their condition.