What the literature tells us about listeners' reactions to stuttering: implications for the clinical management of stuttering

Abstract

It is known that listeners harbor negative stereotypes toward people who stutter but there are a host of other findings in the literature that provide a broader perspective about how listeners react to stuttering. The focus of this article is a discussion of four areas of research related to listener reactions to stuttering: (1) how stuttering impacts listeners' reactions to mild, moderate, and severe stuttering; (2) how stuttering interferes with listener recall and comprehension of story information; (3) how children react to stuttering; and (4) how listeners react to strategies plus use in stuttering therapy programs. Studies associated with these four areas of research are summarized and discussed. Clinical implications that emerge from these studies are described to assist clinicians in the treatment of children and adults who stutter.