Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS) Releases First Interdisciplinary Consensus Guidelines on Stuttering

International panel of psychiatrists, neurologists, speech-language pathologists, and individuals who stutter urge coordinated, individualized care

COSTA MESA, Calif., Aug. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS) today announced the publication of the first interdisciplinary consensus guidelines on stuttering. This landmark effort aims to close longstanding gaps in how the disorder is diagnosed, treated, and understood across medical specialties. The guidelines were developed by an international multidisciplinary advisory panel of 35 experts spanning psychiatry, neurology, and speech-language pathology, along with individuals who stutter themselves.

The panel's guidelines center on seven consensus statements, including that:

• Stuttering should be recognized by the broader medical community as a heterogeneous, biological, brain-based disorder.
• A comprehensive, individualized diagnostic approach is needed, where physicians and other healthcare professionals play a central role.
• Current treatments and the tools available to assess their effectiveness remain limited, even though early intervention is critical.
• Interdisciplinary care that spans family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, neurology, speech-language pathology, and psychology should be the standard of care.
• As stuttering may affect communication confidence, social participation, emotional well-being, and occupational functioning, clinical assessment must extend beyond fluency alone.
• Expanded formal education for physicians and allied health professionals is urgently needed.
• Continued research is essential to improve diagnosis, assessment, and treatment.

Stuttering, also known as a childhood-onset fluency disorder marked by repetitions, prolongations, and speech blocks, has often been dismissed by doctors and society as either a passing developmental stage or a purely behavioral issue. The new consensus guidelines directly challenge that view directly: 94 percent of panelists agreed that stuttering should be recognized as a heterogeneous, brain-based disorder, with most classifying it as neuropsychiatric in nature. The panel pointed to emerging genetic evidence that links stuttering to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions such as autism and depression, as well as commonly co-occurring conditions that include ADHD, OCD, social anxiety disorder, and tic disorders.

Among the most clinically significant findings in the guidelines is a caution for psychiatrists and other prescribers: medications that increase dopamine activity (including common ADHD stimulants, bupropion, and certain Parkinson's disease medications) may worsen stuttering symptoms in some patients. The panel recommends considering alternative agents whenever clinically feasible and notes that dopamine antagonist or partial agonist medications, such as aripiprazole, currently hold the strongest evidence base for pharmacologic management.

Despite growing scientific understanding of the neurobiological basis of stuttering, the panel found that nearly 90 percent of respondents rated the current treatment landscape as only fair or poor. Barriers identified included a shortage of trained providers, inconsistent diagnostic standards, a lack of validated biomarkers and severity measures, and limited integration between medical and speech-language pathology care. The panel also found that 85.7 percent of respondents disagreed as to whether individuals who stutter and their families currently have access to sufficient, high-quality information.

To address these gaps, the guidelines outline practical considerations for clinical implementation. These considerations include screening for comorbidities and autoimmune etiologies, individualizing treatment plans, maintaining close collaboration with speech-language pathologists, and training medical staff to better support individuals who stutter, including through accommodations such as secure electronic communication options.

Beyond the consensus statements themselves, STARS stated that it is committed to further developing resources for educators and schools, employers, and researchers, as well as medical training programs that offer lifetime support to individuals who stutter. The panel called for standardized diagnostic frameworks, validated outcome measures, and accessible treatment pathways as priorities for the field going forward.

"These findings highlight the need for a coordinated, interdisciplinary, and biologically informed approach to care," the guidelines conclude, noting that the challenges facing the stuttering community mirror those historically seen in other neuropsychiatric conditions from which valuable lessons can be drawn , such as ADHD and Tourette syndrome.

About STARS
The Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS) is the first nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing neuroscience research and therapies to improve the lives of people who stutter. STARS is committed to educating health care professionals to improve access to care for the estimated 80 million individuals worldwide who stutter. For more information, visit https://stutteringresearch.org/.

SOURCE Stuttering Treatment and Research Society (STARS)