What is Fluency?

In the communication realm, fluency refers to the steady, foward flow of speech. When there is a fluency disorder, there is a disruption in the forward flow of speech, thereby causing repetitions, hesitations or prolongations of sounds. Most people commonly know this as stuttering.

We all have times when we do not speak smoothly. We may add "uh" or "you know" to what we say. Or, we may say a sound or word more than once. These disfluencies are normal if they happen every once in a while. When it happens a lot, it may be stuttering.

People who stutter may have the following types of disfluencies:

  • Blocks. This happens when you have a hard time getting a word out. You may pause for a long time or not be able to make a sound. For example, "I want a ...... cookie."

  • Prolongations. You may stretch a sound out for a long time, like cooooooooooookie.

  • Repetitions. You may repeat parts of words, like co-co-co-cookie.

Stuttering can change from day to day. You may have times when you are fluent and times when you stutter more. Stress or excitement can lead to more stuttering. Stuttering may get in the way of how you talk to others. You may want to hide your stuttering. So, you may avoid certain words or refuse to talk in some situations. For example, you may not want to talk on the phone if that makes you stutter more.

Signs of Stuttering

The following types of disfluencies happen when you stutter:

  • Part-word repetitions – "I w-w-w-want a drink."

  • One-syllable word repetitions – "Go-go-go away."

  • Prolonged sounds – "Ssssssssam is nice."

  • Blocks or stops – (pause) "Come here." (You may tense up your face or body when you have a block or stop.)

These types of disfluencies happen to many people and are not stuttering:

  • Adding a sound or word, called an interjection – "I um need to go home."

  • Repeating words with more than one syllable – "Here is my puppy-puppy-puppy."

  • Repeating phrases – "He is-he is four years old."

  • Changing the words in a sentence, called revision – "I had-I lost my tooth."

  • Not finishing a thought – "His name is ... I can't remember."

Resource: ASHA