What is Stuttering?

Stuttering is a speech disorder where the person knows what they want to say but at the time may be unable to say it.

When most people think of stuttering, they think of words or parts of words being repeated. Stuttering does include these repetitions, but you probably realise there is a lot more involved. Stuttering is a complex speech problem, which includes many different speaking behaviours and body movements that interrupt the flow of speech21. Struggling to speak, worrying about speaking and avoiding words and speaking situations are also related to stuttering18.

The thing that separates you from people who don't stutter is the feeling of having no control over your speech. This means that you can't say what you want, when you want to say it21.

Types of Stuttering

• Blocks: Blocks happen when you stop speaking before a sound or during a sound or word. This is because the airflow, voice, and muscles involved in speech suddenly stop working together and become stuck28.
• Repetitions: Repetitions happen when a sound, syllable or a single-word is repeated28.
  • repetition of sounds (p-p-p-pen)
  • syllables (pe-pe-pe-pen)
  • words (pen-pen-pen-pen)
  • phrases (the pen, the pen, the pen is blue)
• Prolongations: Prolongations happen when you stretch out a sound at the beginning of a word, e.g. 'r -->abbit' or within a word, e.g. 'ra -->bbit'. The sound of airflow continues but the muscles involved in making your speech can't move28.
• Inappropriate Pauses: Pauses or hesitations happen when there are silent and uncontrolled breaks in your speech. Pauses may happen after words or within words28.

People often do things to try to hide their stutter. Do you do any of these?

• Avoiding certain words, sounds or speaking situations - To hide your stuttering you may use another word, or put off saying a certain word, until the stuttering feeling goes away. You may even avoid certain speaking situations where you think you might stutter, such as going to a party with friends or ordering a meal at a restaurant28.
• Struggle and tension - You may have a feeling of tightness in some parts of your face or body, e.g. your jaw, cheeks, lips, forehead and upper chest28.
• Moving other parts of your body - You may move your head forward or back; move your arm, leg or hand; close or blink your eyes or move other parts of your body in an effort to help you get the sounds out28.
• Disturbed or Irregular Breathing - When you expect to stutter, you may hold your breath, take several breaths or show other types of unusual breathing patterns30.

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.

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-ordinated 19. Speech needs a very specific sequence of co-ordinated movements. For people who stutter, this sequence is often interrupted39.

Stuttering is like any other motor activity such as riding a bike. When you are excited, nervous or tired your riding is not as good as it normally would be. This is the same with stuttering - it can increase when the person is tired, excited or nervous.

Don't be fooled! There are many myths about what causes stuttering.

When Does Stuttering Begin?

Stuttering can begin either gradually or suddenly. When it first starts, stuttering may range from mild to severe27.

Stuttering usually begins in early childhood between the 2 and 5 years of age3.

Stuttering usually begins around the time when children start putting words together. Repetitions are often the first sign of stuttering in most children, however other types of stuttering may also appear first13.

Who Does Stuttering Affect?

• Approximately three times as many boys as girls stutter3
• Approximately 200,000 people stutter in Australia
• Stuttering occurs across all cultures and backgrounds18