Strategies
This strategy involves slowing down your overall talking speed and stretching out your vowels.
Slow/flexible rate
This is the approximate percentage of the world's population that currently stutters, amounting to over 80 million people.
1%
This type of disfluency happens when a person repeats a single sound or syllable, like saying "b-b-b-ball."
part-word repetition
Introduce yourself and state your favorite hobby using a slow, flexible rate with stretched vowels.
Player successfully demonstrates a slow, flexible rate. Points earned!
This simple action involves directly telling a new teacher, friend, or employer that you stutter so you feel less pressure to hide it.
advertising or voluntary disclosure
This technique involves starting your voice gently with a breathy sound, often used on words that start with vowels or the first sound of a word.
Easy onset
True or False: Stuttering is caused by psychological nervousness, anxiety, or low intelligence.
False
This happens when a person repeats an entire word over and over, such as saying "like, like, like, like this."
whole word repetition
Name three foods you like, making sure to use easy onset (a gentle, breathy start) on any words that begin with vowels.
Player successfully demonstrates easy onset--points earned!
True or False: It is completely normal to sometimes feel frustrated, embarrassed, or anxious about stuttering.
True--acknowledging these feelings is a big part of speech therapy
You use this strategy by barely touching your tongue, lips, or teeth together to prevent tension on consonant sounds like /p/, /b/, or /t/.
Light articulatory contact
Research shows that this physiological factor plays a large role, as about 60% of people who stutter have a family member who also stutters.
genetics or family history
This disfluency occurs when a sound is stretched out longer than usual, like saying "sssssssometimes."
prolongation
Say the phrase "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" using light articulatory contact so your lips barely touch on the /p/ sounds.
Player successfully demonstrates light contact--points earned!
If a listener interrupts you or finishes your sentences, this is a polite but firm self-advocacy phrase you can use to stick up for yourself.
"Please let me finish my thought" (generate your own)
This strategy involves breaking long sentences into smaller, natural phrases and taking a relaxed breath during the pauses.
Phrasing or chunking
This is the gender ratio of adults who stutter, showing that stuttering is significantly more common in males than females.
4 to 1 (four males to 1 female)
This is a silent moment when the mouth is open as if to speak, but airflow and voice are completely stopped.
block
Count from 1 to 10 out loud, but deliberately insert a voluntary stutter (like a gentle prolongation or repetition) on the numbers 3 and 7.
Player successfully demonstrates voluntary stuttering--points earned!
This term describes intentional, controlled stuttering on purpose to help desensitize yourself and reduce the fear of stuttering.
voluntary stuttering
Instead of fighting a stutter, this strategy involves consciously easing tension, elongating the sound, and smoothly sliding out of it during a stutter.
Pull-out or modification technique
Neuroimaging studies show that stuttering is linked to differences in the way this organ processes language and coordinates speech movements.
This term refers to the extra words or sounds a speaker inserts to delay or avoid a stutter, such as saying "um," "uh," or "you know."
interjection
Read a sentence of your choice, but use phrasing to break it up into small chunks of 2 or 3 words with relaxed pauses in between.
Player successfully demonstrates phrasing/chunking--points earned!
This law ensures that students who stutter can receive speech therapy services and accommodations in U.S. public schools.
What is the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)