Stuttering is a communication disorder characterized by various disfluencies that interfere with the forward flow of speech. Stuttering typically begins between 2-6 years of age. It is more common in males and can run in families. Everyone has some instances of disfluent speech; however, people who stutter have more frequent disfluencies sometimes accompanied by a feeling of loss of control. People who stutter may also experience secondary behaviors such as head nodding, eye blinking, tapping fingers/feet, jaw twitching, and/or increased tension during moments of stuttering. There is no single cause of stuttering; in fact, there are multiple factors that play a role in stuttering including physiological factors, speech/language factors, environmental factors, and psychological factors.
Types of disfluencies are generally broken down into the following categories:
Repetitions: Saying a whole word, sound, part of a word, or a phrase more than one time.
- “I want-want-want that book really bad” (Whole Word Repetition)
- “I want that b-b-b-b book really bad” (Sound Repetition)
- “I want that book real-real-really bad” (Part/Syllable Repetition)
- “I want that-I want that-I want that book really bad” (Phrase Repetition)
Audible Sound Prolongation: Holding onto a sound for an extended period.
- “I wwwwant that book really bad” (Sound prolongation on /w/)
Blocks (Inaudible Sound Prolongation): No sound is produced for a variable amount of time, then a burst of tension is released once the person who stutters can finally vocalize their speech.
- “I want the ——-book really —bad” (Block on the /b/ sound)
How can a Speech-Language Pathologist help?
Speech-Language Pathologists play an important role in screening, assessing, diagnosing, and providing unique treatment plans for people who stutter. Stuttering is not curable; however, fluency shaping strategies and stuttering modification techniques can help people who stutter make significant progress toward fluency. Because stuttering is not like other speech disorders, it is not something to “fix” or “cure”; therefore, SLPs work on developing a therapeutic alliance with their clients who stutter. Therapy should be focused on creating an open and safe space for the person who stutters to talk about their stuttering and share their unique journey. SLPs can provide important treatment focused on developing personalized self-disclosure statements and develop treatment activities that promote self-awareness and acceptance.
