voluntary stuttering

This may refer to attempts made by the stutterer to imitate or duplicate as closely as possible, or with specific predetermined modifications, his usual, habitual, pattern of stuttering. It may also take the form of easy prolongations or relatively spontaneous and effortless repetitions of sounds, syllables or the word itself. This style of talking may be used as a deliberate replacement for the usual stuttering behavior and is intended to reduce fear of difficulty by voluntarily doing that which is dreaded. This conscious, purposeful stuttering is also designed to eliminate other avoidance reactions. For the purpose of desensitization some clinicians ask the stutterer to add tension and struggle to these voluntary stutterings in order to learn how to better cope with them.