"Stuttering" is no longer an official diagnosis, according to the DSM-5. Instead, the name of the disorder has been changed to Childhood-Onset Fluency Disorder.
Criteria for diagnosis have also changed in the new DSM, most notably the removal of saying "ums," "ahs" and "you knows" and other interjections as a requirement for diagnosis. "People may have interjections as part of their speech but it may not be stuttering," says Gerald Maguire, MD, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, who served as a consultant for the DSM revision. "They may not be bothered by it, and it may not be part of an underlying disorder."
Meanwhile, anxiety and avoidance have been added to the diagnostic criteria. "For many people, this is what can disable them," Maguire says. "They may have a high level of anxiety and they avoid certain speaking situations or certain words and they focus so much of the time around the avoidance and the anxiety. It's really a key focus."
— Julie Cohen