Stuttering

While many children stutter when learning to talk, it can turn into a lifelong speech disorder for up to 10% of them. Nathalia Fonseca, SLPD, CCC-SLP, TSSLD-BE, and the team at Bilingual Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapy in the Forest Hills neighborhood of New York City, New York, have helped many children and adults overcome stuttering. If you or your child are affected by speech problems, don’t wait to seek help. Call the office or book an appointment online today.

What is stuttering?

Stuttering is a fluency disorder that disrupts the natural flow of speech. Instead of communicating using smooth, fluent speech, stuttering makes you repeat parts of words and insert sounds that don’t belong in words. You may also have a hard time getting the word out of your mouth.

If you or your child stutter, the problem may worsen under stressful or emotional circumstances and improve when you’re more relaxed or among family and friends.

What symptoms does stuttering cause?

Children aged two to six commonly stutter as their language develops, but their stuttering should improve within six months. Stuttering that persists should be evaluated by the team at Bilingual Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapy to determine if it’s a temporary problem or one that needs therapy.

Signs of stuttering include:

• Difficulty saying the first word in a sentence
• Adding an extra sound to words
• Prolonging a word or sounds within a word
• Repeating sounds, letters, syllables, or words
• Changing the words in a sentence
• Opening your mouth to speak, but nothing comes out

Stuttering often occurs together with other repetitive behaviors such as head nodding, eye blinking, fist clenching, and facial tics. 

When should I seek help for stuttering? 

The earlier you seek help, the better your chances are of preventing stuttering from becoming a lifelong problem. You should also contact Bilingual Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapy when stuttering:

• Lasts longer than six months
• Starts after the age of 3-4
• Makes it too difficult to talk
• Stops you or your child from talking

Many people stop talking because they’re embarrassed and don’t want to stutter in front of others. Unfortunately, this severely limits your ability to make friends and find success at school and work.

How is stuttering treated?

Speech therapy for stuttering is customized to meet each person’s age and developmental level. The team uses a range of activities and techniques for overcoming stuttering. For example, your speech therapist may focus on speaking slowly and identifying when you stutter, and then teaching techniques to prevent stuttering by changing the way you talk.

If you’re worried about stuttering, call Bilingual Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapy or book an appointment online today.