STUTTERING AND CLUTTERING THERAPY
Julie is our specialised Stuttering Therapist. She studied for a postgraduate degree (ESS) and followed countless courses and workshops on stuttering and cluttering.
In a nutshell, stuttering (or stammering) is disfluency in speech characterised by repetitions, prolongations, and/or blockages. The child who stutters will briefly lose control over their speech. Unpleasant experiences and reactions to stuttering can lead to negative associations with stuttering developing over time. These can then create a bigger problem of excessive tension, avoidance, negative feelings, and more, exacerbating stuttering.
Stuttering can most easily be treated at an early age, so it is appropriate to start as early as possible. After a conversation and assessment, the speech therapist consults with the parent/guardian about whether the child should begin therapy. We can work on the stuttering both directly with the child,and indirectly with their environment.
If it turns out therapy is not (yet) needed, you will receive concrete, evidence-based tips to work with at home.
Cluttering is a communication disorder in which the child talks very fast or at an irregular speed, leading to intelligibility problems. Symptoms can include high numbers of disfluencies, imprecise articulation, ‘swallowing’ parts of the sentence, and loss of control over sentence structure.
It is difficult for these children to monitor their speech inaccuracies on the spot. They often only realise the unintelligibility when their conversation partner reacts confused. Cluttering can be frustrating for the child who has it, as well as for their family, classmates, and teachers.
Following diagnosis, the child and their family will learn how to manage the speech monitoring issues so that daily communication goes smoother. After gaining an insight into their speaking habits, we learn and practice techniques for the child to employ whenever they find them useful.
