speech disorders

Symptom

Stuttering

Cluttering

What gets stuck

Word, sound, syllable

Message

Know what want to say?

Yes

No (or less clear; know but they get derailed in mazes)

Awareness

Typically yes

Yes and No

Rate differences

Can be a secondary strategy (i.e. person who stutters may speak quickly to avoid stuttering), but is not central to stuttering itself

Yes; mandatory for a diagnosis of cluttering (note that rate has to be rapid OR irregular, but does not have to be both)

Disfluences

Mostly stuttering-like disfluencies
(SLDs), such as repetitions, prolongations, blocks

Mostly non-stuttering-like disfluencies
(NSLDs), such as interjections/filler words, phrases repetitions, revisions

Examples of disfluencies:

Repetitions of sounds of syllables: y-y-you wa-wa-watermelon
Prolongations: sssso; thiiiis
Blocks: sound gets stuck and person has difficulty moving forward to next sound: p---eople

Interjections/filler words: um, uh
Phrase repetitions:
I love, I love NSA
Revisions: I would like ice cream, no, please make that a shake

Articulation difficulties
(i.e. difficulties pronouncing sounds in words)

Not in pure stuttering (i.e. stuttering without any additional communication disorders)

May sound “Mushy” and “Slurred”, typically can be corrected by such strategies as slowing rate

Prosody (i.e. the rhythm and melody of one’s speech)

Typically normal

May be impacted; especially by change in pausing related to irregular rate

How it sounds

Repetitions, prolongations, blocks

Rushes of speech; lots of restarts

Affective and cognitive components

Can be

Negative reactions and communication avoidance have been identified by consumers

Pragmatics (i.e. social aspects of language)

Typically okay

A secondary consequence to decreased communication effectiveness; if decreased awareness may be more difficulties here

Stuttering vs. Cluttering

Kathleen