2006年VOA标准英语-Emotional Stress Linked to Childhood Stuttering

By Melinda Smith
Washington, D.C.
24 July 2006
 
watch stuttering report

A recent report shows that small children who have more difficulty handling emotional stress often stutter.  While scientists say 50 to 80 percent of these children grow out of it by age five, there is no cure for stuttering if it continues beyond that.  VOA's Melinda Smith looks at the problem and what scientists have found.

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There is no cure for stuttering and no one really knows what causes it, even though it's believed heredity, and now emotional temperament¹, play a part. The International Stuttering Foundation estimates that as many as 60 million people around the world have this speech disorder². 

The children shown in a video provided by the Stuttering Foundation of America talk about their difficulty communicating with others. 

 
Dr. Edward Conture 
  
The inability to interact leads to frustration³ and anger and sometimes withdrawal⁴, says Professor Edward Conture of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  "You simply can't communicate when you want, what you want, to who you want, and how you want.  And that can be -- anyone can relate to that -- because that's frustrating⁵."

Dr. Conture studied 111 children aged⁶ two to five.  That's the age group when stuttering becomes most apparent. While this study was done in the United States, children experience the same routine of play, school and hard work elsewhere in the world.  Boys are three times more likely to stutter than girls. 

While there is a genetic⁷ link in families, Dr. Conture also found that many of these young stutterers typically became more excitable in the give-and-take of what seems like a normal playtime situation.  They often took more time to settle back down once they were upset.  Their emotional reactions then triggered the stuttering.

Dr. Conture says parents and teachers can help by providing a relaxed environment, which gives the child plenty of chance to speak.  Refrain from criticizing or getting angry when he or she can't get the words out, and seek the help of a speech therapist who can work with the child. By doing this, the child hopefully will grow out of it.

Some video courtesy of The Stuttering Foundation of America.

1 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

2 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

3 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

4 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。