Affective and Cognitive Symptoms

The affective and cognitive symptoms develop over a period of time and are the result of communication breakdowns and the penalties (inability to say things, ridicule by others, etc.) suffered by the person who stutters. These breakdowns and penalties cause the person who stutters to:

1. develop word and situation fears
2. begin to avoid feared words and situations
3. develop secondary mannerisms, such as eye blinks, foot tapping, head jerks, etc. to escape from, or avoid, stuttering
4. use interjections, such as "let's see, you know, like" as starters to get the speech flow started
5. use interjections, such as "let's see, you know, like" as postponers, or a delaying tactic, to get a problem word out without stuttering on it

Return to previous page

Copyright © 2001 Overton Speech & Language Center, Inc.

webmaster@overtonspeech.net

Last revised: February 03, 2001