Putting Stuttering in Context
Stuttering is far more than a speech pattern. It is a deeply human, layered experience rooted in neurobiology, learning, identity, and the social world. In our lab, we study how stuttering shapes mental health, self-perception, and relationships — and how these constructs interconnect and are influenced by social contexts from everyday interactions to speech therapy.
A Moment of Stuttering
No moment of stuttering unfolds in isolation. How a speaker experiences that cascade — from glitch to anticipation to fear to rumination — is shaped by many layers of context all at once: the listener in front of them, the behavioral patterns that have built up over years, and the therapeutic journey they may be on.
When a moment of stuttering begins, it ripples through the speaker’s inner world before making it to the listener’s ears. In the span of milliseconds, a small glitch in the brain can cascade into anticipation, fear, and – even long after the moment has passed – rumination.
When we speak, the brain quickly turns ideas into planned words, those planned words into motor plans, and those motor plans into mouth movements. For people who stutter, there can be a disruption or “glitch” in how the motor plan is made.
When the speaker senses the glitch, they anticipate that they will stutter on an upcoming word. For many people who stutter, this anticipation triggers acute fear — fear of losing control, fear of physically struggling, fear of the listener judging them.
The moment of stuttering can be so fearful for some speakers that they experience dissociation where the mind detaches from the body, as if watching the interaction from a distance. Time itself can feel distorted, either grinding to a halt or rushing past in a blur.
Afterwards, the person who stutters may ruminate about how hard the interaction was, replaying the moment long after it’s over. This internal process interferes with the person’s ability to stay present in their body, in the conversation, in the social connection.
Explore how each of these contexts shapes the moment — and the person within it.
Getting Unstuck: Moving Toward Open Stuttering
When a moment of stuttering unfolds, it can trace a different path that’s not rife with fear. The speaker can move through moments of stuttering with awareness, acceptance,and presence rather than fear and retreat.
Rather than bracing for an oncoming stutter, a speaker can learn to recognize the familiar feeling of an approaching disfluency, and meet it with acceptance and curiosity instead of alarm.
In the moment of stuttering, the speaker can embrace the disfluency without struggling, hiding, or rushing away from it. As the stutter passes through, the speaker remains present in their body, in the conversation, in the social connection.
This shift — from fear and retreat, to acceptance and presence — is at the heart of what we study and what we hope to support. We work to understand the factors that fuel fear of stuttering: the anticipation, the shame, the behavioral patterns, and the social experiences that accumulate over a lifetime. And we are dedicated to developing and supporting approaches that help people who stutter move toward themselves, to live fully and stutter openly, without fear of judgment or the need to hide.
In a fast-paced world that prizes fluency, stuttering introduces something rare – a natural pause that invites both speakers and listeners to slow down and be present with one another in shared humanity. With a mindset shift, what society often frames as a flaw can become an opening toward authenticity, deeper connection, and a more spacious way of being in connection with others.