is there a link between ADD and stuttering ?

[Fractal]

I just got ADD (inattentive) diagnosed and asked the psychiatrist about that. The answer was not clear, but he talked about learning difficulties… I’ve read somewhere that it might be linked (something involving the same brain chemicals) and was wondering if any of you stutter or know something about that ?

In my case, I have a light-medium stuttering problem and it seems clearly genetic in my case (a lot of family members also stutter…). Also, my stuttering is not stress induced or anything like that. I can be super fluid in a severely stressing interview and stutter like there’s no tomorrow with my boyfriend (or friends)… or just the opposite ! Since it’s so hard to pine-point what helps it or not… it seems to make more weigh on the genetic theory to me… ?

I know there’s only 1% who live with stuttering, so I’m not waiting for tones of replies, but if you do have information about this… feel free to share it with me (us) !

Thanks a lot !

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[kc5jck]

I don’t recall ever reading or hearing about a link between ADHD and stuttering. I doubt that there is a direct connection. From my understanding, the areas of the brain affected by ADHD are located differently from that of speech and hearing.

I believe that stressful situations in which people with ADHD often find themselves could aggrevate stuttering during those times of stress, but that isn’t a direct connection. If there were a link, you would expect that there would be a relatively higher number (5% for example) of stutterers among the ADHD population and vice versa. However, there are so many undiagnosed with ADHD that correlation of ADHD with just about anything occurring in small percentages in the general population would be suspect.

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[Fractal]

thanks Kc5jck ! I will try to find out exactly what that info was… I know that the general statistic about adult stuttering is around 1%, but I don’t know if we have numbers concerning stutterers among the ADHD population… ? And as you say, theses statistics (like many others) will have to be taken with caution, since we still have a lot to learn about these difficulties, and since a lot of people don’t know they actually have ADHD (that was me… just yesterday !). Sorry again for my bad english, but I really like this website, so I guess it will improve with time ! Yé !

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[Anonymous]

Speech and language problems are common in ADHD. Stuttering may be between 4–26% (Conture, 2001, Riley & Riley, 2000). It may be related to general coordinative tasks anyway like those linked with dyslexia, clumsiness and fine motor tasks. There is a likely role here in some ADHD individuals related to the cerebellum, a part of the brain in the lower back of the skull that handles coordination.

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[kc5jck]

With respect to coordination, although I was not good at catching or hitting a ball, in college I did floor exercises in gymnastics which requires a fair degree of coordination. In high school, I played the organ, requiring coordination of both hands and feet. Currently, I play the concertina which I consider to be harder than the piano with respect to coordination and cognative skills. And though basically left handed, there are a fair number of things I can do with either hand. Apparently, ADHD hasn’t affected me in this area.

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[Scattybird]

Kc – sorry to trivialise a good discussion but to me reading the forum is like listening to the radio. I have a mental image of everyone. But you’ve just blown my image of you completely out of the water. Now I see you playing a concertina whilst doing backflips to a street audience. Mmm. Is that good or bad?!

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[Fractal]

@ Dr. J. : Thank you very much for the info. It’s interesting to see that it could be linked with coordination… What I read the other day was actually on Wikipedia:

“Three genes associated with the neurotransmitter dopamine correlate with five disorders: ADD/ADHD, stuttering, Tourette’s syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and tics.[1]”

They also link it to the stress… and I’m not so sure about their explanation for “reduced prefrontal cortex blood flow” … and as I said, stress can also be helpful in my stuttering case.

“All five disorders involve a combination of stress and movement:

Persons with ADD/ADHD have normal brain activity when resting, but when they try to concentrate on a task, they have reduced prefrontal cortex blood flow, which reduces their ability to concentrate.[2] Persons with ADHD (mostly children) then become hyperactive and can’t sit still.

Stuttering is excessive speech-production muscle activity resulting in blocked, prolonged, or repeated sounds. Stress usually makes the stuttering uncontrollable.”

humm… :

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[Fractal]

Oh… and I also found and interesting discussion about it just here:

http://thestutteringbrain.blogspot.ca/2007/04/does-adhd-make-it-harder-to-become-more.html

At the end of the comments, an ADD stutterer wrote some interesting thoughts about it:

“As a genetic stutterer with add i feel ive got something to add here. The medication Dextroamphetamine (dexedrine) worked really well for my add AND stuttering. It allowed me to use my techniques and get those thoughts in before the sounds were being made. Plus, it helped with grades and the ADD. Im still ADD, but ive progressed heavily with my fluency. Im now out of school and a Retail Salesman”

Yay !

@kc5jk : otherwise… I’m not particularly clumsy or anything like that… (my drawings and sculpting are not that bad), so I believe it leaves all the coordination problems to my brain and mouth !

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[kc5jck]

Scatty – I just noticed the posts since my last on this thread. Since the “recent posts” list has been shortened, this one must have fallen off the bottom before I noticed your comment.

You probably are getting a more accurate image of me. Sometimes I think that I have matured mentally and emotionally at about one fourth the normal rate. That would put me at about the level of a fifteen year old. Which seems about right. I think my wife would agree. What, me worry? Is this an ADHD thing? 🙄

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[Scattybird]

Haah kc – such an old mental age! I think mine is around 10 years – at least based on the fact that I can fit in well with a bunch of 10 year old boys I know, although they are a litttle dull – more interested in computer games than food fights. What’s the world coming to!

Problem is my mental age doesn’t fit my physical age – the mind wants to conquer the world but the body wants to sit in a deck chair and enjoy the sunshine.

Did you hear about the woman who fell through her deckchair and was trapped for a day until someone heard her cries for help?

Sorry for the digression – back to stuttering….. ……

But although I really hate the shortened threads, it’s nice when ones pop up again – the short term memory issues make it seem like they are all new again!

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