Stuttering / Cluttering
What is stuttering?
Stuttering (also known as a “fluency disorder”) is characterized by involuntary interruptions or stoppages in the smooth flow of speech. These interruptions, or disfluencies, may include repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases, prolongations of sounds, or blocks, tension-filled stoppages of speech and airflow that feels like the word is "stuck". A feeling of loss of control, or inability to get the word out, is often present among people who stutter.
Stuttering may be accompanied by secondary behaviors, which are physical movements that occur during a moment of stuttering. These can range from small movements (like blinking or breaking eye contact) to very large movements (such as moving the hands, feet, or head).
Stuttering can have a serious impact on a speaker's social-emotional well-being. If you find yourself avoiding certain words, situations, or conversational encounters because you worry about stuttering, speech therapy can help improve your speech and increase your overall speaking confidence.
What is cluttering?
“You’re talking too fast!”
“Can you repeat what you said? I didn’t understand.”
“You sound like you’re mumbling.”
Most people have never heard of cluttering, but the symptoms often sound familiar. Like stuttering, cluttering is also a “fluency disorder” that is characterized by a rate of speech that is perceived as too fast, too irregular, or both. Usually, this results in diminished overall intelligibility. People who clutter often hear things like “you’re mumbling” or “you’re talking too fast.”
The rapid speech rate of a person who clutters is often accompanied by additional behaviors when speaking. Syllables may be omitted or “telescoped” (i.e. syllables get smooshed together). The speaker may have abnormal pauses, syllable stress, or speech rhythm when talking. Stuttering-like disfluencies can also occur, with sounds, words, or phrases being repeated or blocked. Physical behaviors, like breaking of eye contact or turning of the head, may also be present. It is not uncommon for a person who clutters to also have a co-occuring stuttering diagnosis
Much like stuttering, cluttering can greatly impact a person’s social-emotional well-being. Heightened anxiety, avoidance behaviors, and low self-esteem are common with people who clutter. Thankfully, speech therapy can help!
What happens in stuttering/cluttering therapy?
We take a holistic approach to stuttering and cluttering treatment. We often start with education and building awareness of your unique speech patterns. From there, you will learn some basic techniques to gain more control and manage your speech challenges. Once you are comfortable with the techniques, role-playing and real-life simulation are a key component of therapy at Clarion Voice & Speech, which allow you to practice using techniques in real-life situations. These simulation activities also aim at reducing fear, anxiety, and avoidance so that you can be more confident when speaking.
Thoughts, feelings, and overall life impact are components that will be emphasized throughout therapy. We incorporate principles of both Avoidance Reduction Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. We provide a very wide range of physical and psychological tools from a variety of approaches, and work with each individual client to determine what will be successful for you specifically. For clients with prior speech therapy experience, we build on past knowledge or skills that you would like to keep, and look for new options in the areas you'd like to explore.
Will therapy cure my stutter/clutter?
There is no "cure" for stuttering or cluttering. The goal of speech therapy at Clarion Voice & Speech is to help you manage your speech better and gain confidence in speaking situations. For many people, developing speech management skills does lead to increased fluency. Regardless of fluency, often our clients report less avoidance and anxiety associated with stuttering/cluttering, and they usually feel more comfortable and confident with their overall communication skills. We value saying what you want over how you say it.