Cluttering

Cluttering is a speech difficulty that leads to disruptions in the fluency and flow of speech. It is characterised by one or more of the following:

• A fast rate of speech
• Uncontrolled bursts of rapid speech
• Frequent disfluencies
• Some speech that is unclear or words that seem to run together
• Difficulties in language planning and organisation

The person who clutters may not be aware of any difficulties in their speech.

Cluttering and stammering are different but some people have elements of both in their speech.

Assessment and therapy

This involves working out which factors are contributing to the cluttering. Therapy then focuses on the priority  areas and may include:

• Increasing awareness of and reducing speech rate
• Pronunciation to make words clearer and more distinct
• Conversation skills
• Language planning and organisation