Stuttering

At Houston Methodist, you meet with board-certified experts who specialize in speech disorders. We will ask you about your medical history, stuttering as a child, how symptoms affect you today and what options you have already explored.  

Your specialists may recommend tests to identify underlying medical or psychological conditions that can cause stuttering, such as: 

• Muscle weakness or abnormalities 
• Trauma, accident or injury 
• Neuromuscular disorder or other neurological disorder 
• Medical conditions such as stroke 
• Genetic abnormalities in the language centers of the brain 
• Emotional trauma (rare) 

Our speech-language experts will analyze your triggers and speech patterns — understanding what makes your communication unique is key to effective treatment.

While there is no definitive cure for stuttering, expert care can significantly reduce your symptoms. Effective therapies to help control stuttering include: 

• Controlled fluency exercises — Slowing down your speech until you do not stutter, then increasing the speed until you have reached a more normal pattern.  
• Electronic devices — By simultaneously broadcasting what you are saying into earphones, it sounds like you are speaking in unison with another person. This effect works for many people who do not stutter when reciting speech in unison with others, such as the Pledge of Allegiance.   
• Cognitive behavioral therapy — This proven psychological technique can help you identify and change the relationship between thoughts and speaking, which can improve coping with situations that might trigger stuttering.