What is stuttering? It can be characterized as a break in the forward flow of connected speech often resulting in repetitions of words, parts of words or whole words. Blockages of airflow can occur in which no sound is being produced or sustained sounds (i.e. mmmmmmm-monkey). It is not abnormal for children of a young age to have disfluencies in their speech as a result of the rapid language development occurring. Research has shown that about 5% of children are likely to be disfluent at some point in their development, typically around age 2.5 to 5 years old. It is not uncommon for children to transition between fluent and disfluent speech, with disfluencies that can often be triggered by a rush to complete a thought, excitement or exhaustion.
What should I look for?
In most situations stuttering will resolve itself after a short period of time. In other instances stuttering will continue as children develop. During language development, children are rapidly increasing their vocabulary. The sequence and complexity with which they use words can result in a disruption in the coordination of a smooth sentence.
Typical
Repeating phrases and whole words (I want to- I want to play;please-please-go get it)
Use of filler words (uh or umm)
No tension of physical struggle when speaking
No negative reaction or frustration
No family history of stuttering
Disfluencies last less than 6 months
Not Typical
Repeating sounds or syllables (s-s-s-snake)
Sound prolongations (mmmmee)
Blocks: Child appears to be attempting to make a sound but cannot.
Secondary physical behaviors that may accompany a stutter including
Hand tapping
Eye blinking
Throat clearing
Facial grimacing
Family history of stuttering
Disfluencies last longer than 6 months
What does treatment look like?
At Building-Blocks Therapy services our trained speech-language pathologists are instrumental at supporting both children, adolescents and adults who stutter by providing strategies to modify speech and reduce tension during stuttering events. Our therapists use strategies to bring awareness to the rate of speech and to normalizing stuttering. Stuttering modification techniques can include stretching initial sounds or sliding into words to decrease tension and consequently disfluencies. Our therapists work hard to treat the whole person including any negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs revolving around their stutter.
Treatment for adults who stutter often will address the underlying feelings such as guilt and shame that can be associated with stuttering. It is helpful to consider the analogy of an iceberg coined by Dr. Sheehan. The stutter, dysfluent speech and secondary behaviors are most noticeable and prevalent, just like the tip of an iceberg. However, it is the negative thoughts, feelings and beliefs that lie below the surface that make up a majority of the iceberg. As this analogy illustrates, strategies for impacting fluency on the surface are beneficial in the short term however, it is the focus on the feelings below the surface that can bring about long term change.
https://www.stutteringhelp.org/blog/sheehan-stuttering-analogy
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