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Stuttering or stammering? What the words on a report mean

Stuttering Therapy Clinician: Dr Lauren Crumlish (PhD) 7 min read

A mother sitting on the floor beside a sofa hugs her young son, who is looking down and smiling.

Stuttering and stammering are the same condition, so stuttering vs stammering is a choice of word and not a difference in diagnosis. “Stammering” is the word most people use in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and “stuttering” is the word used in Australia, New Zealand and North America.

Stuttering, also called stammering: speech that is interrupted by repeated sounds or words, stretched sounds and moments where a word gets stuck. A child described as having a stammer and a child described as having a stutter have the same thing.

The rest of this guide explains where each word is used, whether advice written for “stammering” applies to your child, and what the other words on a speech pathology report mean.

Is there a difference between stuttering and stammering?

No. Stuttering and stammering are two names for one speech condition, and the bodies that work with it say so directly. STAMMA, the British Stammering Association, states that stammering and stuttering are the same thing. The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering in London says the two words mean the same thing. The NHS describes stammering as “also sometimes referred to as stuttering”, and the United States National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders says stuttering is sometimes called stammering.

Some websites claim a difference. One version is that a stutter is repeating sounds while a stammer is getting stuck. Another is that a child is born with one and the other is brought on by nerves, and a third is that one is milder. None of these is used by speech pathologists or by the organisations above. A speech pathologist assesses and treats the same condition whichever word is on the referral.

Which countries say stuttering and which say stammering?

Australia says stuttering. Speech Pathology Australia and the Australian Stuttering Research Centre both use “stuttering” in everything they publish for families, and so do Australian health services such as healthdirect and the children’s hospitals.

Country or region Usual word Example of a body that uses it
Australia Stuttering Speech Pathology Australia, Australian Stuttering Research Centre
New Zealand Stuttering Stuttering Treatment and Research Trust (START)
United States and Canada Stuttering American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
United Kingdom and Ireland Stammering STAMMA, the NHS, the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering
India Stammering Named by STAMMA as a country where most people say stammering

If a grandparent, a teacher or a doctor who trained overseas says your child “has a stammer”, they are describing stuttering.

Can I trust UK advice that says stammering?

Yes. Advice about stammering from STAMMA, the NHS and the Michael Palin Centre is advice about stuttering. Their explanations of what it is, what causes it and how to respond at home apply to an Australian child.

What does not carry over is the practical detail. How to get a referral, what is funded and which services exist are different in each country, so read those parts from an Australian source. When you search for information, try both words: a search for “stammering” brings up the British material and a search for “stuttering” brings up the Australian and American material, and they describe the same thing.

What do the other words on a report mean?

Most of the other words describe the flow of speech in general, and only some of them mean stuttering. This table covers the terms a parent is most likely to meet on a report, a referral or a form.

Word on the report What it means in plain words Is it stuttering?
Stammering The British word for stuttering Yes, the same condition
Fluency How smoothly and easily speech flows No, it is the skill being described
Disfluency Any break in the flow of speech, such as a pause, a repeat or an “um” Not on its own; everyone has disfluencies
Dysfluency Another spelling of disfluency, which some writers keep for breaks that are part of a disorder Often, but ask the author
Typical disfluency The ordinary breaks every speaker has: fillers such as “um”, repeating a whole phrase or a longer word once, changing a sentence part way through No
Stuttering-like disfluency The breaks that mark stuttering: repeated parts of words, quick repeats of short words (“I-I-I”), stretched sounds, getting stuck It describes the signs of stuttering
Fluency disorder The group name for conditions that interrupt the flow of speech Stuttering and cluttering are the two main ones
Childhood-onset fluency disorder The formal name for stuttering in the DSM-5-TR, the manual used to classify conditions Yes, the same condition
Developmental stuttering Stuttering that begins in early childhood while speech and language are developing Yes, and it is the usual kind in children
Cluttering A different fluency disorder, where speech sounds too fast and words run together No

“Childhood-onset fluency disorder” is the term that worries parents most, because it sounds like a second and more serious diagnosis. Childhood-onset fluency disorder is simply what the DSM-5-TR calls stuttering that starts in childhood, and it tends to appear in reports and forms that follow that manual. It does not mean a child’s stuttering is more severe.

Is disfluency the same as dysfluency?

Usually, yes. Disfluency and dysfluency are two spellings that both describe breaks in the flow of speech, and there is no agreed rule that separates them. Some writers use “disfluency” for the ordinary breaks everybody has and keep “dysfluency” for breaks that are part of a disorder such as stuttering. Others use one spelling for everything.

If a report says your child has “dysfluent speech” or “dysfluencies”, the most useful thing to do is ask the person who wrote it whether they mean stuttering. The spelling alone will not tell you.

Is typical disfluency the same as stuttering?

No. Typical disfluency is the ordinary stopping and starting that every speaker has, and it is not stuttering. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association gives the examples of adding a word such as “um”, repeating a whole phrase, and changing a sentence part way through. Young children who are learning to build longer sentences do a lot of this.

Stuttering is different in kind, not only in amount. A child who stutters repeats parts of words or short words in quick bursts (“I-I-I want”), stretches sounds out or gets stuck before a word will come, and there may be tension or effort with it. If you are not sure which one you are hearing, the guide on when to worry about stuttering sets out the signs, and a stuttering assessment is how a speech pathologist tells the two apart.

How is cluttering different from stuttering and stammering?

Cluttering is a separate fluency disorder, not another word for stuttering. In cluttering, speech sounds too fast or uneven and words run together, whereas in stuttering the child usually knows what they want to say and the word will not come out smoothly. Cluttering is usually not identified until a child is about eight or older, and the guide to cluttering explains how the two are told apart.

Does the word on the report change what happens next?

No. Whether a report says stuttering, stammering, dysfluency or childhood-onset fluency disorder, the next step is the same: a speech pathologist listens to how your child talks, and treatment is chosen for your child’s age. None of the words says anything about why a child stutters, which is covered in what causes stuttering. Speech Pathology Australia advises talking to a speech pathologist when you first notice stuttering, and the Australian Stuttering Research Centre recommends therapy for all children who begin to stutter in the preschool years.

For the full picture of what stuttering is and how it changes with age, start with stuttering in children. Dr Lauren Crumlish (PhD) is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist who treats stuttering in children and teenagers by video across Australia. Fees are set out on the pricing page, and a parent or guardian can apply to work with Dr Lauren.

Sources

Topics

  • Stammering
  • Disfluency
  • Fluency disorder
  • Reports

Fees

Sessions are $193. The first step is an initial assessment, from $590. Medicare rebates are available with a doctor's referral. The practice is not NDIS registered: self-managed and plan-managed participants are welcome; NDIA-managed funding cannot be used. See fees and Medicare

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