“How about just talking too fast?”
Cluttering is as common as stuttering according to recent estimates. Still, it is often not recognized as a stand-alone disorder. Most people think it is “just” something like talking fast, sloppy or unclear, which can easily be addressed. That means there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about cluttering.
I never knew how to explain what went wrong in my speech. Couldn’t really call it stuttering, but didn’t know how to describe it correctly, either. I just thought I was being clumsy, “floundering” with my words. Never would have guessed that there was actually a name for what I did.
I always thought I stuttered: that was exactly what people told me. Yet I have never felt completely at ease with this term. I knew I “stuttered” in a different way, never really got stuck in my words. But the strangest thing of all is that I had never heard of cluttering before, not even from my speech-language pathologist.
When my daughter and I found out that she didn’t stutter but clutter, a whole new world opened up to us. For years we had been looking for a suitable therapy, but didn’t find one. Now we know that cluttering is (much) different from stuttering. I would have liked to have that knowledge earlier.
It’s about time
Most people know what stuttering is. Cluttering, on the other hand, has been unknown to the general public for years. Fortunately, this speech disorder gets more and more attention now, and an ever increasing number of speech-language pathologists around the world is able to put their finger on it. After having been disregarded for decades, cluttering has grown out of its infancy and is now widely respected as a speech disorder in its own right. Some experts (by experience) explain.
Too fast for words: the book on cluttering
Have you been diagnosed with cluttering? Or do you suspect that you clutter? Order Too fast for words now and learn everything about this intriguing phenomenon.
Easy to read
Dozens of anecdotes from people who clutter
An extensive explanation of cluttering
Insights in what is going wrong in your speech
Tips for successful treatment
Dealing with cluttering in daily life
Creating understanding with others