Dysfluency (stuttering)

Stuttering involves disruptions in speech flow, which may manifest as difficulty speaking, hesitations, or repetitions of syllables, words, or phrases. While typical disfluencies are inconsistently repeated, speech dysfluencies can be frequent and may cause frustration. An evaluation by a speech therapist can help determine if these dysfluencies are a normal part of development or if they require intervention.

Who might benefit from speech therapy for fluency:

- Children who exhibit stuttering, characterized by repeating the same word or consonant sound at the beginning of an utterance.

- Children who display signs of cluttering, which involves a rapid rate of speaking.

A speech-language pathologist can conduct a thorough evaluation to assess if a child demonstrates signs of fluency disorders. Following the assessment, the clinician can recommend ongoing therapy services tailored to address the child's specific needs and enhance their expressive language skills.