Stuttering vs stammering – what's the difference?

The reason that both stutter and stammer exist and describe the same speech dysfluency is because stammer is a mostly British term, whereas stutter is ... Skiptocontent Veryoccasionally,wehavepeopleaskinguswhatthedistinctionisbetweenstammeringandstuttering.It’sanunderstandablequestion,andwiththetwowordsfloatingaroundit’sdifficulttotellwhichistherightonetouse. We’reheretosettherecordstraight,onceandforall. Thereisnodifference–sortof. AquickGooglesearchwillgiveyouanumberofanswers,withmanypeopleclaimingthatastutteristherepetitionofletters,whereasastammeristheblockingandprolongations.Thereareotherswhosayitisaclinicaldistinctionusedbyprofessionals,andtherearesomewhoclaimthatastutterissomethingyouarebornwithandastammerissomethingyoudevelopduetotraumaornerves. ThereasonthatbothstutterandstammerexistanddescribethesamespeechdysfluencyisbecausestammerisamostlyBritishterm,whereasstutterislargelyusedintheUS,aswellasNewZealandandAustralia. AgreatexplanationofthisisbyLynneMurphy,alinguistwhowritestheblog‘SeparatedbyaCommonLanguage’.Lynnehasusedherextensiveknowledgeoflinguistics,aswellassomefantasticGooglingtofindhowthetermsareusedandwhen,andmoreimportantlywhere.Herconclusionis: “Ifitisthecasethatstammeringandstutteringaredifferentthings,thenitlookslikeinthe1960s,theyfoundacureforstammeringinAmerica,andsomehowthataccidentallybroughtonmorestuttering.Ofcoursethat’snotwhathappened.Whathappenedisthatstuttertookoverin[AmericanEnglish]astheusualterm.” Thisisagreatexplanationofthephenomenon,andputsthecasetorest. Thereareonly2waysinwhichstutterandstammeraredifferent: OneisusedpredominantlybyAmericanEnglishspeakers,whiletheotherispredominantlyusedbyBritishEnglishspeakers. OnehastwoextraT’sandaU,whiletheotherhastwoM’sandanA Ifyou’reinterestedinmoreinterestingfactsaboutstuttering,headtoourFAQpageandhaveallyourquestionsanswered! Gethelpwithyourstutter 2thoughtson“Stutteringvsstammering–what’sthedifference?” whatisthemedicineofstammering? Isthereanyhouseholdmethod? howlongitwilltakeforbeinggood? Thereareseveralstrategiesortechniquesyoucanlearntomanagestuttering.Therearedifferenttechniquesfordifferentagesandtheyallcanbepracticedathomeandthenusedineverydayconversations.Howlongittakestoimprovedependsonhowseverethestutteringistobeginwithandtheindividualperson.Howeverthereisnomedicineorquickfixforstuttering. Commentsareclosed. Postnavigation PreviousPreviouspost:5waysyoucanhelpourcharitythataren’tjustdonatingmoneyNextNextpost:5waystohelpsomeonewhostutters MorefromSTART: WelcometoJohnandFelix–ournewteammembers TherapyforstutteringstillavailableduringtheCOVID-19lockdown AvoidanceReductionTherapyanditsusesforpeoplewhostutter WelcomingNikki–ourGrantsCoordinator 2019inReview FelixcelebratesInternationalStutteringAwarenessDaybyeducatinghiscolleagues Closethismodule TherapyatOrangeLightWearecontinuingtoprovidetherapyatOrangeLight.Vaccinationpassesarerequiredforinpersonappointments.WecontinuetoofferandencourageappointmentsviaZoom.Toarrangeanappointmentwithoneofourspecialistspeechlanguagetherapistspleasecontactusonsupport@www.stuttering.co.nzor095796775.NgaMihiSpeechLanguageTherapyteamAskabouttherapynowNeverseethismessageagain.ThiswebsiteusescookiesandtheFacebookPixeltoimproveyourexperience.We'llassumeyou'reokwiththis,butyoucanopt-outifyouwish.AcceptRejectReadMorePrivacy&CookiesPolicy Close PrivacyOverview Thiswebsiteusescookiestoimproveyourexperiencewhileyounavigatethroughthewebsite.Outofthese,thecookiesthatarecategorizedasnecessaryarestoredonyourbrowserastheyareessentialfortheworkingofbasicfunctionalitiesofthewebsite.Wealsousethird-partycookiesthathelpusanalyzeandunderstandhowyouusethiswebsite.Thesecookieswillbestoredinyourbrowseronlywithyourconsent.Youalsohavetheoptiontoopt-outofthesecookies.Butoptingoutofsomeofthesecookiesmayaffectyourbrowsingexperience. Necessary Necessary AlwaysEnabled Necessarycookiesareabsolutelyessentialforthewebsitetofunctionproperly.Thiscategoryonlyincludescookiesthatensuresbasicfunctionalitiesandsecurityfeaturesofthewebsite.Thesecookiesdonotstoreanypersonalinformation. Non-necessary Non-necessary Anycookiesthatmaynotbeparticularlynecessaryforthewebsitetofunctionandisusedspecificallytocollectuserpersonaldataviaanalytics,ads,otherembeddedcontentsaretermedasnon-necessarycookies.Itismandatorytoprocureuserconsentpriortorunningthesecookiesonyourwebsite. SAVE&ACCEPT MENU AboutUs AboutUs OurTeam OurBoard Ambassadors OurBooks OurFilms Research Treatment TreatmentOptions IndividualTherapy GroupTherapy Mentoring Treatmentpricing Testimonials ChildProtectionPolicy Information EducationalFilm Factsaboutstuttering ForAdults ForParents ForTeachers ForSpeechLanguageTherapists Supportus BecomeaSupporter LeaveaGiftinyourWill EntertainmentBook News News AnnualReviews Contactus