Stammering

Also called Stuttering, Dysfluency, Stutter

Repetitions, prolongations and blocks: what a stammer is, what listeners get wrong, and what genuinely helps at each age.

What it is

Stammering is a difference in the timing and flow of speech: sounds or syllables repeat, stretch out, or block completely so that nothing comes for a moment. It's in the Health A-Z as stammering. Around one in twelve children stammer at some point and around one in a hundred adults do.

It's neurological, not psychological, and not caused by nerves or by anything a parent did. Anxiety can make a stammer worse, but the stammer came first. The person who stammers knows exactly what they want to say; the word is simply taking longer to leave.

Who it can help

Children who've been stammering for more than a few months, adults who stammer and want either to change their speech or to change how they feel about it, and every listener who has ever wanted to finish someone's sentence.

It's not the same as cluttering, which is fast, jumbled speech the speaker often doesn't notice, nor the halting speech of aphasia, where the word itself is missing.

How it works

For young children, early referral matters because the chance of natural recovery is highest before school age and therapy in that window is very effective. Programmes such as Palin Parent-Child Interaction therapy work through the parents, changing the pace and pressure of talk at home. Waiting to see is the one thing the evidence doesn't support.

For older children and adults, therapy has two broad strands. Speech techniques (easy onset, slowing, sliding through a block) make talking smoother for some people. The other strand is about living well as someone who stammers: reducing the avoidance and shame that often cause more harm than the stammer, speaking openly about it, and stammering without fighting it. Many adults choose the second and find it more freeing than a technique they have to police all day.

What listeners do matters enormously. Finishing words, looking away, saying "slow down" or "take a breath": each one adds pressure and makes the block longer.

Getting started

For a child: refer to speech and language therapy now, through the GP, health visitor or school. At home, slow your own speech a little, cut the questions, and give full attention when they talk. Don't comment on the stammer unless they do, and then talk about it calmly.

For an adult: decide what you actually want. If it's fewer blocks, ask for therapy. If it's to stop hiding, join a group and start telling people you stammer before you speak; the relief surprises most people.

For a listener: keep eye contact, wait, and let the person finish. That's the whole method. At work, an interview by reasonable adjustment can allow extra time or written answers.

Where to get help

STAMMA runs a helpline, webchat and local groups, and is the national charity. The Michael Palin Centre is the specialist NHS centre for children and adults and takes referrals from anywhere in the UK. NHS speech and language therapy is available locally through the GP or school; the RCSLT describes the service.