Stuttering is more than just the disruption to the flow of speech.
For some adults stuttering can make communicating feel exhausting and unpredictable. It can leave people feeling embarrassed and no longer wanting to communicate with their friends and family.
Without therapy these experiences can affect a person’s social life and career.
At Perth Speech Therapy, we see that the internal struggle with confidence and self-doubt can cause more long term harm than the actual sound of the stutter itself.
A recent study by Engelen et al. (2023) highlights the important connection between stuttering and broader psychosocial wellbeing. This research explores how stuttering affects their everyday life.
Stuttering burden recognises that stuttering is not just about the difficulty in speech pronunciation but it also involves the internal and emotional impacts that stuttering can have, including the effort involved in communicating and the anticipation of having difficulty saying words.
For some people this may mean avoiding certain words, situations or conversations altogether, for others it may involve feelings of frustration, embarrassment or anxiety when it comes to speaking with other people.
These different negative experiences compound over time and affect how individuals participate in the world around them.
If someone with a stutter is constantly left feeling embarrassed after an interaction, the likelihood of continuing that interaction gets lower and lower.
Even as small as visiting their local coffee shop, if the interaction proves to be embarrassing or cause anxiety, they may order a delivery or buy a coffee machine for home instead.
The study found a clear relationship between stuttering burden and psychosocial challenges. It found that adults with a higher impact from stuttering experienced a lower quality of life.
The findings suggest that it is not just the severity of stuttering that matters, but also the different experiences a person has while stuttering. For example, if people have laughed at them or encouraged them to keep speaking.
So two people may have the same difficulty actually pronouncing the words, but if one person has higher confidence, the stuttering has less of an effect on their overall quality of life.
When people start to avoid everyday activities like phone calls or talking at work, it can have a severe impact on wellbeing.
Although this study focuses mainly on adults, it also highlights that early intervention for children is important. Without addressing the issue early on and getting help, the impacts of stuttering can flow into adult life and have lasting impacts.
Many individuals who stutter lead successful, fulfilling lives across a wide range of careers and social environments. With the right support people can develop confidence and meaningful relationships.
Supporting individuals who stutter means looking deeper than just how their speech sounds and considering the whole person experiencing the stutter.
At Perth Speech Therapy our goal is not just smoother speech, but a life where communication feels accessible and meaningful for everyone.
Reference
Engelen, M. M., Franken, M. C. J., Stipdonk, L. W., Horton, S. E., Jackson, V. E., Reilly, S., … & Eising, E. (2024). The association between stuttering burden and psychosocial aspects of life in adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 67(5), p1385-1399. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00562