Recently I was placing an order with the Stuttering Foundation of America, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to the prevention and treatment of stuttering. Unintelligibility and disfluency often go hand in hand.
Typical characteristics associated with fluency or stuttering disorders include the following.
This stop and start of speech can be caused by difficulties in language formulation or in the act of speech production. Interruption of airflow to support smooth speech production may be apparent in speech blocks. Emphasis may be placed on the wrong part of a word or words in a sentence. Changes in pitch or sudden switches to a high or load voice may also be observed. Stuttering in general may occur or become worse when the speaking demands or expectations exceed the individual's abilities.