A patient's speech is markedly disrupted. Before revealing the answer, decide what distinguishes stammering (stuttering) from mutism.

Ask whether any speech is actually being produced. Stammering differs from mutism in that speech is present but disrupted in its flow, rather than absent altogether: words are attempted and largely completed, just broken by pauses or repeated fragments. Mutism, by contrast, is a complete loss of speech, with no spoken output produced at all, though the person may still communicate through gesture or writing. Whether speech is genuinely present, even if disrupted, versus entirely absent, is the key distinguishing feature between the two.