Fluency is one's ability to speak smoothly, continually with appropriate rate and effort. The most common disorder involving disruptions in fluency is stuttering which impacts the natural flow of speaking. Stuttering involves:

• Repetitions of sounds, syllables, words and/or phrases (e.g., I-I-I-I went to the store)

• Stretching out of sounds (e.g., I went to the ssssssstore)

• Blocking of getting a word out (e.g., I .........went to the store)

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The following often co-occur with stuttering:

• Physical tension in the body, especially in areas used for speaking (e.g., jaw, lips, larynx)

• Physical movements that happen at the same time or close to a stutter (e.g., eyebrow raise, head nod, leg kick)

• Negative feelings about their speaking or avoiding certain words/sounds or speaking situations

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We provide assessment and intervention for individuals of all ages who exhibit disfluencies. The specific approaches taken are individualized to the client's age, awareness of disfluency, motives as well as the clinician's clinical impression.

 

What you can expect:

• Depending on a person's specific age, an assessment often involves:

  • Detailed background information​

  • Gaining information about how the person feels about their stuttering

  • Speaking samples across different tasks (e.g., conversation, reading, phone call)

  • Brief check of speech and language skills (find more information about those terms: Speech, Language)

• The assessment allows to us to determine:

  • Whether you or your child presents with a stutter

  • For preschool children, whether they are likely to persist or naturally resolve

  • Appropriate intervention approaches

• Intervention approaches are discussed with the client and/or family and then provided on a once-per-week basis. Home practice is provided for days between sessions in order to continue use of strategies and skills learned in session.​

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If you have concerns about your own or your child's fluency, we'd love to support you. Complete our quick online form today and we'll get connected. If you have questions about our services, a lot of those questions are answered here!