Girl, interrupted: the science behind my stutter – and what not to say to me

an article by Rachel Hoge published in the Guardian

People tend to be misinformed about stammering. Here’s why finishing my sentences or telling me to ‘slow down’ doesn’t help


There are no miracle cures, but one thing is certain: a person with a stutter should be able to make their own decisions regarding their speech. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

I’ve heard the misconceptions for most of my life.

“Just slow down,” a stranger told me as a child. “You’re talking too fast – that’s why you stutter!” Later on, as my stutter carried on into adolescence and adulthood, strangers and loved ones alike offered up their own judgments of my speech –usually incorrect. Some have good intentions when it comes to sharing their opinions about my stutter. Others ... not so much. But everyone shares one defining characteristic: they’re misinformed.

Stuttering is a communication and disfluency disorder where the flow of speech is interrupted. Though all speakers will experience a small amount of disfluency while speaking, a person who stutters (PWS) experiences disfluency more noticeably, generally stuttering on at least 10% of their words.

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