Stuttering
The rate and rhythm of our speech is generally predictable with smooth delivery and even transitions between words. Disruptions to this flow occasionally occur when we cannot find the word we are looking for, when our attention is interrupted, or when we are tired and this is normal. However, for some people, even though they know what they want to say, are well rested, and are focusing on the conversation, their speech comes out bumpy or dysfluent. Also called stuttering or stammering, dysfluent speech is characterized by sound prolongations (e.g., "wwwwwwwwe will go"), fillers (e.g., "um", "like"), hesitations, blocks, and/or syllable or word repetitions. For example, "I wa wa wa want an apple" is an example of a syllable repetition within a phrase. Some dysfluencies are a normal part of development and expected as a child between ages of 2 - 4 learns a vast amount of words and the sentence structure of a language.
Please contact the classroom teacher if/when dysfluencies last more than six months, occur with other speech and/or language problems, become more frequent as the child matures, occur with muscle tightening or a visible struggle to speak, impact the child's ability to effectively communicate at school or in social interactions, and/or cause fear or avoidance of speaking situations in order to review potential assessment and/or treatment options. There are various treatment options depending on the type and severity of the stuttering and how the student is impacted by the stuttering.
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