What is cluttering?

Cluttering is the term used to describe a speech pattern that can often sound disorganised, rapid, jerky or contain unclear speech.

For most clutterers, their speech does sound fluent and intelligible, and they might not realise that others struggle to understand them.

Cluttering is when someone’s speaking rate is too fast and/or irregular, and when their speech includes one or more of the following:

• Unusual pausing, stress, volume and rhythm
• Lots of hesitations and filler words like ‘urm’ or ‘well’
• Collapsing or deleting syllables in speech – the words may sound ‘mushy’

Cluttering can often be mistaken for stammering, but it’s not the same thing.

Cluttering is viewed as having trouble with the timing and planning of language. People who clutter may often have lots of thoughts and things to say, but find it difficult to plan their language, so they may stumble over their words which can make communicating with others difficult for them.

Cluttering can happen as a result of 2 things:

1. A high speech rate and difficulty controlling the pace of speaking
2. Disorganised planning of language or structuring messages and sentences

What should I do if my child clutters?

• Understand that ‘slowing down’ and ‘speaking more clearly’ is very difficult for someone who clutters.
• Let your child know what you have understood, by repeating it back, for example, “So you were in Maths, and then…”. This shows them you have been listening and they can then tell you anything that you missed.
• Show your child you are interested in the conversation and what they have to say, and take the time to give them your full attention.
• Try to improve your child’s awareness of their own speech, so that over time they may become more aware of when people have not understood them.
• Help your child identify any triggers that may increase the frequency of cluttering. For example, does emotional stress affect this or speaking in certain situations?
• When listening to your child speak, try and reduce interruptions, and limit any stress inducing factors or situations which can increase cluttered speech.
• Educate family members, school staff and friends on what cluttering is.
• Show them how to respond when your child clutters in speech. For example, try and avoid telling your child to ‘slow down’.