Has treatment for stuttering been off base? New guidelines go beyond speech to the brain

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More than 80 million people worldwide stutter, yet misconceptions on it persist in the medical field, and access to appropriate care can be limited. New international medical guidelines aim to change that.

Up until her mid-20s, Catherine Moroney says she was "very frightened" of speaking because she stutters.

"I can't hide my stuttering,” Moroney, who lives in Pasadena, Calif., told The Current. "For many years, I would squirm and hide if asked about it."

Stuttering varies in frequency and severity from person to person, and it can disrupt the natural flow of speech in different ways, the National Stuttering Association in the U.S. says. According to the Stuttering Foundation, based in Memphis, Tenn., it affects more than 80 million people worldwide.

Someone who stutters might repeat sounds or words, stretch out certain sounds or experience a block — a moment when they struggle to get a word out, even though they know exactly what they want to say.

Now, a first-of-its-kind set of interdisciplinary consensus guidelines, published in the journal Psychiatric Times in August, is calling for stuttering to be recognized as a complex, brain-based condition rather than simply a speech problem.

Catherine Moroney is on the board of directors at the Canadian Stuttering Association. She says people who stutter might not pursue personal and professional opportunities. (Submitted by Catherine Moroney)

For people who stutter, disruptions in speech can make everyday interactions unexpectedly difficult, said Moroney, 59, who is the secretary on the board of directors at the Canadian Stuttering Association. While she has lived and worked in the U.S. for many years as a physicist and software engineer, she was raised and educated in Canada and holds Canadian and U.S. citizenship.

Dealing with customer service over the phone can be frustrating, she said, when automated systems fail to recognize stuttered speech and the agents themselves hang up rather than take the time to listen. In emergencies, people who stutter might also be "unable to impart the necessary information quickly" when attempting to call 911.

People who stutter might hold back from pursuing personal and professional…

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