Covert stuttering can be defined as a condition in which the person who stutters tries to hide his stuttering problem by avoiding or masking some words. This attempt to hide their problem by stutterers is an effect of the way society treats them. If a stutterer had been teased during his childhood, he would feel pressure to hide his stutter from others to avoid being the most ridiculed. Sometimes this kind of covert nature is activated in stuttering children due to the parents’ refusal to accept their child’s problem.

Covert stuttering is more prominent and more likely only among mild stutterers, since it is not possible to hide a severe stutter. Most stutterers use filler words to do this; words like ‘ummm’ or ‘I think’ precede your sentences to give the listener the impression that you are just thinking and taking your time to speak instead of stammering. Some others avoid using certain words and substitute their synonyms so they don’t have to stutter on the difficult word. Most of the time, the avoidance extends to your speech as well. Stutterers tend to talk less in a crowded environment and eventually avoid talking much.

This denies stutterers the opportunity to speak; it is something they do to themselves and that is why they suffer emotionally. The fear of being exposed to the world as a stutterer is very important and this causes a great deal of emotional stress for stutterers. In the process of hiding their disability, they talk less and sooner or later end up holding back in order to achieve better results. The constant fear added to the inability to accept their problem forces them to withdraw from the social scene making them susceptible to loneliness.

To prevent stutterers from hiding their problem, they must be treated correctly in their environment. Parents should never encourage their children to practice covert stuttering as it will not only affect them emotionally, but it will also serve as an unearth of any chance of recovery the child may have. Instead of practicing it as a way of life, stutterers should use it only in the circumstances necessary for their confidence to grow. But you have to remember that it is always better to accept your own disability than to have to run away from it.