Dysfluency (Stuttering)
What is stuttering?
Stuttering is something that affects the fluency or flow of speech. It usually begins during childhood and can continue right through a person’s life. It is characterized by specific types of disruptions or disfluencies in the production of speech sounds that occur regularly and impact on communication.
What are some common characteristics of stuttering?
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Repetitions of sounds, parts of words and whole words (e.g. “wha…wha… what are you….you….you d..d…d…..d..doing”).
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Prolongations or stretching of speech sounds (e.g. “whaaaaaaat are you doing”).
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Blocking or struggling to get words out. This is when the mouth is positioned to say a sound, sometimes for several seconds, before the sound is said. After some effort the person may complete the word.
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Interjections, such as “um” or “like” can occur particularly when they contain repeated (“um- um- um”) or prolonged (“uuuum”) speech sounds. They are also used intentionally to delay the initiation of a word the speaker expects to “get stuck on”.
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Unusual pausing for extended periods of time.
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“Secondary” physical signs, such as blinking, leg slapping and facial movements when they are trying to get out a word.
How can I tell if my child is having problems with stuttering?
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Show frustration because they can’t get their words out or effortful speech.
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Seem to get stuck on words a lot of the time.
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Repeat sounds, syllables or phrases regularly in their speech.
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Have lots of stops and starts in speech (e.g. there is a lack of “flow”) and their speech is difficult to follow and understand.
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Avoids certain words and/or phrases because they might have difficulty saying them or they get stuck on those words.
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Avoids talking because they are having difficulty communicating fluently with others.
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Shows secondary behaviors like foot tapping, blinking or their slapping leg when trying to get a word out.
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Say ‘um’, ‘er’ or ‘ah’ a lot whilst thinking about what they want to say.
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Regularly rephrase sentences whilst talking.
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If you have concerns about your child's receptive language skills, schedule a consultation with one of our pediatric Speech Language Pathologists.