(HealthDay News) — Stuttering is characterized by the repetition or elongation of sounds, syllables or words. Causes are usually physical, and rarely related to emotional trauma.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine says common symptoms of stuttering include:
- Becoming frustrated when speaking.
- Pauses in the middle of sentences, especially when the lips are pressed together.
- Adding sounds or words to a sentence.
- Repetition of words, consonants, phrases or parts of words.
- Speaking in a tense-sounding voice.
- Extending a sound in the middle of a word.
- Jerking of the jaw or head, and blinking of the eyes.