Conference Brings Together Researchers, Clinicians, Patient Advocates To Address Unmet Needs

CONFERENCE REPORTER

“Stuttering is a unique condition in that it is labeled in the ICD [International Classification of Diseases], its labeled in DSM, yet we have no effective treatments for this condition that has existed since really the dawn of human history,” Gerald A. Maguire, MD, told Psychiatric Times in an exclusive interview at the STARS Inaugural Education and Research Conference.¹

“Unfortunately, the medical community has largely ignored this condition,” said Maguire, chair and director of residency training at College Medical Center in Long Beach, California, and staff psychiatrist and director of graduate medical education at Oroville Hospital in Oroville, California.

The need for more research, better treatment options, and increased awareness and education inspired Maguire to start STARS. “We need something that's FDA-approved. We need more evidence-based care for people who stutter, and we as psychiatric practitioners, neurologists, pediatric neurologists, pediatricians, need to work closely in an interdisciplinary model with speech language pathologists, psychologists, and others to help this community that's been suffering largely in silence and had been ignored by us,” Maguire told Psychiatric Times.

Although stuttering has persisted throughout history and occurs internationally and in all languages, there are no FDA-approved pharmacological options to support individuals who stutter. Meanwhile it is estimated that more than 1% of all adults experience stuttering and more than 4% have stuttering, known as childhood-onset fluency disorder in DSM-5.

Treatment has mostly centered around specific forms of speech therapy, with earlier interventions in childhood resulting in some positive outcomes for select patients, he said. However, Maguire noted that better treatment is needed, especially for adults.

Maguire wants clinicians to understand that stuttering is more complex than what most may believe, noting it “is much more than just one condition.”

A goal of the conference is to help clinicians consider the bigger picture when a patient presents with stuttering. For instance, Maguire said there is now data indicating it could be autoimmune related.

The conference also highlights current treatment issues. Stuttering is highly comorbid with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and even tic disorders. Thus, clinicians may not be aware that the pharmacological agents used to support those conditions also may be exacerbating the stuttering.

When considering medications, it is important to consider dopamine’s potential role in stuttering. “There seems to be a dopamine relation where dopamine activity is elevated, especially in the basal ganglia region of the brain, and that may slow the timing and the initiation of speech,” he said. He noted sometimes using a dopamine active agent for treating ADHD, for example, may worsen the stuttering and in some cases the stuttering can get better. This interesting twist requires further research, Maguire added.

“Our goal would be then to work with other clinicians, or even for ourselves, to utilize different forms of cognitive behavioral therapy, as psychiatrists, as practitioners of mental health, to help these individuals,” Maguire told Psychiatric Times. “There's good data as well for CBT to help, especially with the social anxiety, to treat the coexisting conditions of the social anxiety, potentially the OCD, in a manner that doesn't worsen the underlying stuttering state itself.”

Reference

1. Maguire G. Why STARS? The Unmet Medical Needs of Stuttering. Presented at STARS Inaugural Education and Research Conference; Dana Point, California; September 13, 2025.