Fluency
What is fluency?
Fluency is the term speech pathologists use to refer to ‘smooth speech’ – that is, speech with the absence of stuttering. Fluency therapy aims to help children, adolescents or adults regain confidence over their speech and reduce their stuttering.
Stuttering can have a significant impact on an individual’s social interactions, opportunities and emotions due to the frustrating nature of being ‘stuck’ on a word. There are different types of stutters which can produce this feeling of being ‘stuck’. These include:
- Sound repetition (b-b-birthday)
- Syllable repetition (birth-birth-birthday)
- Blocking (where the sound is frozen in the mouth and then bursts out)
- Insertions (unintentionally interjecting every sentence with ‘err’ or ‘umm’)
- Prolongations (where the sound is unintentionally and inappropriately lengthened)
What is considered ‘typical’ for fluency?
It is crucial to remember that we all stutter at some point. Research has shown that stuttering requires therapy if someone stutters on more than 2% of their spoken syllables. That’s incredibly tricky to calculate, so we encourage you to consider stuttering as requiring therapy when it detracts from what the individual is saying.
It is important to note that stuttering can be developmental. Some children stutter for several months before it resolves naturally, and this can correspond with a big life event or with a growth in vocabulary. If the stutter persists for 3 or more months, we would recommend booking an assessment with a speech pathologist.
How can we help?
Research has shown that Lidcombe Therapy is the most effective paediatric fluency approach and it has been proven to work in conjunction with regular home practice. That’s why parents are always required to be present and involved during fluency therapy. As such, you and your therapist form a valuable team with the same goal of communication ease for your child.
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