Let’s Talk: Stuttering
Stuttering is hard to define.
There is no single definition accepted by everyone. But here’s how the World Health Organisation defines it:
“Speech that is characterized by frequent repetitions or prolongations of sounds or syllables or words, or by frequent hesitations or pauses that disrupt the rhythmic flow of speech”
The concern: this definition is more like a description, because it can’t be used to set apart those who stutter from those who don’t.
Other definitions, for example, by Wingate, Perkins and Bloodstein, have their strengths and weaknesses too.
Let’s describe stuttering in more depth.
There can be repeated movements:
Syllable repetitions e.g. “if-if-if”
Incomplete syllable repetitions e.g. “ca-ca-can”
Multisyllable repetitions e.g. “I was-I was-I was”
There can be fixed postures:
With audible airflow e.g. “prolongations”, like the speaker is prolonging a sound
Without audible airflow e.g. “blocks”, like something is blocking speech
There can be superfluous behaviours:
Verbal e.g. “oh well-well-um-um”
Nonverbal e.g. blinking, grimacing, grunting
Stuttering affects people.
Stuttering can affect a person in the following ways:
Speech: reduced verbal output, word avoidance, grammatical constraints
Education: fear of speaking in class, education attainment
Occupation: workplace communication, occupational attainment
Social anxiety: situation avoidance e.g. passing on a message, telling a joke
Stereotypes: sometimes labelled as “shy, nervous, introverted”
Quality of life
An important note...
People are quick to ‘help’ those who stutter by finishing what they are trying to say. But this isn’t supportive. Here’s what is:
Maintain eye contact (but don’t stare, and consider differences in culture)
Be patient, understanding, and non-judgemental
Listen
Allow the person to finish what they want to say
Show empathy, interest, and respect
Treat those who stutter normally
Principal Source: Onslow, M. (2018). Stuttering and its treatment : eleven lectures. Mark Onslow.
