Neurogenic acquired stuttering

Abstract

We were formally introduced to the phenomenon of acquired stuttering in 1976 when a 33-yr-old patient was admitted to the AphasiaNeurobehavior Unit of the Boston Veterans Administration Hospital with a seizure disorder which developed following a head injury. Along with the seizure the patient had developed a profound stutter, characterized by phonemic repetitions of virtually every syllable. He had no history of developmental speech or language problems. The clinicians responsible for this patient’s treatment were confronted with the problem of determining whether the etiology was psychogenic or neurogenic. This prompted us to investigate the problem of acquired stuttering. With little effort seven additional patients with adult onset of stuttering were recalled. In characterizing their speech problem we were drawn to the definition presented by Espir and Rose (1970) who characterized stuttering as “a deviation of speech which affects adversely the speaker or listener because of an interruption of the normal rhythm of speech by an involuntary repetition, prolongation or arrest of sounds.” Definitions which implied a developmental etiology were rejected because our patients clearly began to stutter subsequent to neurolgical injury during adulthood. At the same time we began a retrospective examination of these seven patients, a literature search was undertaken. It was striking to find that while a single bibliography in developmental stuttering may run over 600 references (Bloodstein, 1969) we were able to locate less than a dozen references to acquired stuttering, since this phenomenon was first