Cluttering: Discussion of issues relevant to the community

A roundtable discussion entitled "Cluttering: Discussion of Issues Relevant to the Community," held at the 2025 Oxford Stuttering and Cluttering Research Conference, brought together individuals who clutter, clinicians, and researchers to examine key concerns related to the challenges of living with cluttering. Guided by the Three-Pronged Approach to the conceptualization of cluttering (Myers et al., 2018), which emphasizes the importance of lived experience in diagnosis and intervention, the session provided a collaborative dialogue among all stakeholders. Clutterers identified and explored core questions related to employment impact, perceived and internalized stigma, coping with negative emotional consequences, the development of support systems, avoidance behaviors and associated guilt, the use of speech management strategies, and perceived differences between cluttering and stuttering. Perspectives shared during the discussion, considered alongside emerging literature, informed three position statements relevant to the cluttering community. First, the lived experiences of individuals who clutter should be recognized as valid and essential evidence in research and clinical practice. Second, stigma and self-stigma must be explicitly addressed in assessment, intervention, and research. Third, cluttering presents unique characteristics and psychosocial concerns that distinguish it from stuttering and warrant differential consideration. These perspectives highlight the value of a shared approach that involves clutterers as true partners in research design, clinical services, and public education to ensure that professional efforts reflect the priorities and lived experiences of the community.