Amy Reardon at The Believer:
No clear genetic origin has been found for stuttering, and neither have emotional origins like trauma been ruled out. Still there is no cure. Some techniques work for some stutterers, some of the time. A hundred years ago doctors tried cutting out portions of the tongues of stutterers, killing and maiming many, curing none. Online, there are testimonies from people who swear by certain techniques, people who are taking Vitamin B1, people who are gloriously fluent, and people in the midst of a tough recurrence.
The late journalist Francine du Plessix Gray recalls a governess forcing her to stuff her mouth with pebbles and recite Lamartine’s “Le Lac” in French while standing on a seaside overlook.
more here.