Cluttering

Cluttering is a fluency disorder characterized by a perceived rapid or irregular speech rate, excessive disfluencies, and often collapsing or omitting syllables, making speech difficult to understand. Unlike stuttering, individuals who clutter are frequently unaware of their speech breakdowns. Cluttering can significantly impact academic, social, and professional communication.

Cluttering may co-occur with other communication disorders including stuttering, language disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and learning disabilities. The multifaceted nature of cluttering means that assessment must be thorough, examining rate, fluency, clarity, language formulation, and self-monitoring abilities to develop an accurate clinical picture.

Treatment for cluttering focuses on increasing self-awareness of speech patterns, reducing rate, improving articulatory precision, and enhancing organizational skills for language formulation. Speech-language pathologists use a combination of rate control strategies, self-monitoring training, and structured practice to help individuals achieve clearer, more organized communication.