Blocks
Blocks are one of the three types of stutters. When someone experiences a block, their voice/speech is interrupted. It depends on the person and severity of the block, but lengths can range from a fraction of a second to, in some cases, almost a minute. From a stutterer's perspective, pushing through a block only makes it more difficult to speak. The feeling of experiencing a block is almost equivalent to holding your breath, except someone else is holding it for you. It may seem counterintuitive, but the way to get out of a block is to stop trying to speak and start again. This article I found very clearly describes what a block is like and how to move past them.
I’d like to invite you to undertake a little exercise. Hook your hands together with your elbows pointed outward in opposite directions. Now try and pull your hands apart while making sure that your hands stay locked. This is an example of a block. You have two forces of equal strength pulling in opposite directions -- the force you’re exerting to pull your hands apart opposes the force you’re exerting to keep your hands locked together. As long as the two forces are equally balanced, you remain blocked. If you want to get past the block, what are your options? Well, you can.
- decide to stop trying to pull your hands apart;
- decide to stop clamping your hands together;
- decide that this silly demonstration is not worth wasting another moment of your time and go do something else.
Any of these alternatives will instantly resolve the block.
Source: www.stuttering-specialist.com
Prolongations
Prolongations are another type of stutter. When someone experiences a prolongation, their voice/speech is prolonged, and the sound they are attempting to say is stretched out. For me, I frequently experience prolongations when saying words that start with S, especially when the S is followed by a consonant. For example, I have a very hard time saying the words "stutter," "school," and "stuttering," to name a few, because I almost always experience prolongations on the first "S" sound. Prolongations, like blocks and repetitions, are very hard to move past fluently without stopping and starting again. When I experience prolongations, the strategy I usually use is cancellations, which involves stopping and using other strategies to ease into and past the difficult sound.
Repetitions
Repetitions are very similar to prolongations in that when they occur, a sound is still produced, unlike in a block. When someone experiences a repetition, their voice/speech is repeated, and the sound they are attempting to say is repeated. I usually experience blocks and prolongations and rarely experience repetitions, but when I do, I tend to stutter on sounds like B, C/CH/CK, or G. Repetitions are more similar to prolongations than blocks, and the best strategy I know to move past them is the same: cancellations, which involve stopping and using other strategies to ease into and past the difficult sound.