General Information

Did You Know...

• Stuttering can be treated at any stage of the lifespan
• Stuttering has no link to intelligence or IQ
• Stuttering can vary and be inconsistent
• Stuttering can affect anyone - confident people, quiet people or outgoing people
• People who stutter may become more anxious as a result of their stuttering
• Stuttering is best treated as early as possible - but it is never too late!

What is Stuttering?

Stuttering is a speech disorder where the person knows what he/she wants to say but at the time may be unable to say it. There are different types of stuttering which include:

• Repetition - of sounds (e.g. c-c-c-cat), syllables (e.g. ca-ca-ca-cat), words (e.g. cat-cat-cat-cat) or phrases (the cat, the cat, the cat jumped)
• Prolongation - of sounds (e.g. m-->y)
• Inappropriate Pauses - between sounds or words
• Blocking - getting stuck on sounds and nothing comes out28

Behaviours which may accompany the above are:

• Facial or body tension, tremors and movement
• Eye blinking
• Lack of eye contact
• Fillers - meaningless words usually used to begin sentences to avoid stuttering (e.g. um, like, you know, but, then)
• Avoidance - of speaking situations or of saying particular words or sounds
• Disturbed or irregular breathing
• Rising pitch and loudness while talking30

What Causes Stuttering?

Stuttering is a speech co-ordination problem, however the exact underlying cause is unkown. Research has shown that stuttering runs in families. Approximately 70% of people who stutter have a family history40.

For co-ordinated speech, your brain sends messages to your speech muscles very quickly and they move very quickly in response. So for your speech to be smooth, your speech muscles must be well co-ordinated19. Speech needs a very specific sequence of co-ordinated movements. For people who stutter, this sequence is often interrupted39.

Speaking is like any other motor activity, such a driving a car. When you are excited, nervous or tired your driving is not as good as it normally would be. This is the same with stuttering- it increases when the person is tired, excited or nervous.

If you'd like to know about the onset of stuttering, see the main general information page.

Situations Where Some People Who Stutter Speak More Fluently

• Speaking alone
• Feel relaxed
• Speaking or reading in unison with another speaker
• Speaking to an animal or infant
• Singing
• Putting on a voice or accent
• Acting
• Writing simultaneously
• During automatic responses such as swearing12

Treatment

See a Speech Pathologist for Stuttering Treatment

Speech Pathologists are the only professionals trained to work with people who stutter.

Speech Pathologists are allied health professionals who are formally qualified to assess and treat people who have difficulty with any aspect of communication. Speech Pathology treatment for communication problems including stuttering is supported in its effectiveness by independent, scientifically based studies. Treatment works directly on the disorder of stuttering and aims to reduce or eliminate it. Speech Pathologists are bound in their work by a professional Code of Ethics.

In most centres, you do not need a referral to see a Speech Pathologist. If you are in Australia, you can find a Speech Pathologist near you in any of these ways:

• Contact your local Community Health Centre and ask about local Speech Pathologists
• Ask your doctor
• Visit Speech Pathology Australia (http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au) and follow the links to find a Speech Pathologist
• As a starting point, you can check out our contacts for Speech Pathologists in this website - follow the links!
• Speech Pathologists in private practice are generally listed in the Yellow Pages (or can be searched online through http://www.yellowpages.com.au).

When deciding on a treatment program, there are some questions you should ask yourself. These will help you decide on a treatment approach that has the best results in reducing stuttering and is most suited to you.

Other Treatments - Where's the Evidence?

On this site we recommend Smooth Speech (Prolonged Speech, Speech Restructuring) treatment for adults and teenagers because it has the best research to prove its results. In other words, it has the best evidence-base.

However, you might investigate some other treatment options not explained on this site. If so, remember that many treatments do not have proven results. Many may claim to have proven results, but you need to know if the results are accurate and unbiased.

If you're serious about looking for proven treatments, you need to look closely at the evidence for each. It is helpful to ask whoever is selling or providing the treatment some very specific questions. To find out these questions go to Other Treatments - Where's the Evidence? The questions may sound technical, but if you can get the answers they will help you decide whether a treatment is evidence-based or not13.

To find out more on the evidence-based treatment options go to Recommended Treatment - Here's the Evidence

For more general information on adult stuttering and/or treatment, go to the links page.

Family and Genetics

While we don't know the exact cause of stuttering, we know there is a genetic link. So if you're thinking of starting a family, you might be anxious about whether your children will stutter too. Here are some things we do know:

• Approximately 70% of people who stutter have a family history40
• There is a chance that an adult who stutters will have children who will stutter too
• The chance of this occurring varies according to whether the parent is male or female and whether the child is a boy or a girl3
• There is no relationship between the severity of stuttering and the extent of stuttering in the family history3
• If you are concerned at any point, seek advice from a Speech Pathologist