What do Marilyn Monroe and Winston Churchill have in common?
They both stuttered as children. So did Nat King Cole, Isaac Newton & Sam Neil.
Stuttering is repeating words or syllables over and over, making prolonged sounds or having speech stoppages or blockages. It affects one in 20 children, usually commencing between the ages of two and three when children begin combining words to form phrases and short sentences.
The Early Language in Victoria Study (ELVS) began in 2003 with over 1900 families having participated already. As well as studying language development, the project aims to determine what causes stuttering in children.
Around 11 per cent of the children in ELVS, double the number anticipated, have started stuttering. The study confirms that boys are more likely to stutter, as are children with a family history of stuttering.
In addition to ELVS the language and literacy group is investigating what happens in the brain when children stutter. Three groups of children will undergo brain imaging (MRI), performing simple spoken tasks while in the scanner.
The brain scans will determine differences in brain activation during speech, comparing children who currently stutter, to recovered stutterers and others who have no history of stuttering.