Stuttering

Dysfluencies occurring in the otherwise orderly flow of speech are common and ordinarily receive little attention from the listener who is striving to anticipate and understand the message of the speaker. Some hesitations of speech or other variations from fluency of themselves convey meaning, but these, like gestural behavior, are read by the auditor as part of the total message. The waving hands, the stumbling speech, and the high pitch and intensity of voice are familiar characteristics of excitement or other emotional state and therefore are not considered abnormal if they are consistent with the message and the circumstances of the speaker. When, however, the rhythm of speech is disrupted in such a way that understanding of the messages is hindered, attention focuses on these sources of confusion or noise and the judgment is made that some speech abnormality is present. Stuttering and stammering are terms frequently used by listeners to designate a wide variety of these incomprehensible variations in speech rhythm. For the professional worker who has some responsibility to do something about deviances in speech there is an initial need to classify the type of speech disorder present and, accordingly, more precise definitions of stuttering and other disturbances of speech rhythm are needed.