“What causes stuttering in adults?”

Is the adult stuttering new? If so could be a neurological problem. Have her assessed by a neurologist. If it is childhood-onset stuttering it is just a continuation of that. There are many theories but no one can say why. There are different reasons. It can be genetic in nature. Could be because of unknown reasons. For treatment see a speech pathologist.

There are no known causes in stuttering. Lots of research has been surfacing suggesting that there might be a misfiring in the prefrontal cortex but there are approaches that are trained in fluency treatments with speech language pathologists that work to enhance the fluent events to minimize attention brought to the stutter events. I'm certain your sister is still a very good communicator. You can be an effective and wonderful communicator even with stutter episodes.

We have never acquired a definitive cause of stuttering but it is mostly thought to have both a physical and emotional component. It can occur because someone had an issue getting their words out earlier in their life and thereafter, this fear caused an issue. In other cases they have a motor issue causing a tongue facility that causes a stutter. In other cases there is.a combination of these issues. Speech therapy can help your sister overcome some of these issues. I have had success in helping patients overcome of these issues. Good luck and best wishes, Darrell Lauer, m.s., CCC/SLP

Hi,

Has she always had this slight stutter? If not, adult onset stuttering may be caused by a traumatic event and may correct itself as she works through it. If is causing her concern and interfering with her communication, I would suggest that she work with a speech-language pathologist to reduce the stuttering.