Stuttering/Cluttering Disorders

Stuttering may appear during childhood between 3-7, typically. Often, there is a period of normal disfluency, when children are bursting with language development and they may appear to be stuttering. Sometimes it is a phase and will go away, but sometimes it becomes more of an issue that requires therapy to control it, and teach the individual how to manage it.

A good rule of thumb is that if the stuttering remains longer than 6 months, an evaluation is in order. In the meantime, allow your child to finish his or her thoughts without any time pressure, if possible. Try not to show that it bothers you, because that may add a negative feeling about their speech.

There are various types of stuttering and it may be neurologically based or language based. Language testing should be part of the evaluation to help identify any language impairments that may be present. The various approaches to stuttering therapy for older kids and adults who show awareness and appear troubled by their stuttering may include breath control training and traditional approaches to learning about their stuttering and finding easier ways to stutter rather than try not to stutter, therefore making it worse.

There is also brain-based treatment such as Interactive Metronome®. The Lidcombe approach is best for preschoolers who are not yet aware of their stuttering. Cluttering is another type of dysfluency that differs from stuttering. It is characterized by word finding errors with poor speech organization that results in unintelligible speech that is of a fast rate. Cluttering requires its own specific treatment techniques that may differ from that of true stuttering, but may include some of the same techniques as well.