Specialty Service
Fluency & Stuttering
Supportive, evidence-based therapy that builds communication confidence and helps individuals manage stuttering on their own terms.
Understanding the Condition
What is stuttering?
Stuttering is a fluency disorder that disrupts the natural flow of speech. It typically begins in early childhood — between ages 2 and 5 — when language skills are developing rapidly. While many young children go through a period of normal disfluency, persistent stuttering is characterized by specific types of disruptions: sound and syllable repetitions, prolongations of sounds, and blocks where the speaker gets stuck and no sound comes out.
Stuttering is more than what you hear. Many people who stutter also experience secondary physical behaviors — eye blinking, lip pursing, jaw tension, head movements, or tapping — that develop as the body tries to push through moments of stuttering. Over time, individuals may also develop avoidance patterns, substituting words, avoiding speaking situations, or withdrawing from conversations to hide their stuttering.
The emotional and psychological impact of stuttering is significant. Fear of speaking, embarrassment, frustration, and social anxiety are common. For children, stuttering can affect classroom participation, peer relationships, and self-esteem. For adults, it can impact career opportunities, social interactions, and quality of life.
Stuttering is neurological in origin — it is not caused by anxiety, nervousness, or bad parenting. While stress can make stuttering worse, it does not cause it. Current research points to differences in brain structure and neural processing related to speech motor control. Effective therapy addresses both the speech and the emotional components of stuttering.
Signs & Symptoms
What to look for
- Sound or syllable repetitions ("b-b-b-ball" or "ba-ba-ball")
- Prolongations — stretching a sound out for several seconds ("ssssssnake")
- Blocks — getting stuck with no sound coming out, often with visible tension
- Secondary physical behaviors — eye blinking, lip pursing, jaw tension, head nodding, or tapping during moments of stuttering
- Avoidance of certain words, situations, or speaking tasks
- Substituting easier words to avoid stuttering on a specific word
- Visible frustration, embarrassment, or anxiety about speaking
- Reduced participation in class, conversations, or social situations due to fear of stuttering
- Interjections ("um," "uh," "like") used excessively as a stalling strategy
- Changes in breathing patterns or speaking rate before or during stuttering moments
Our Approach
How we treat stuttering
Fluency Shaping
Teaching techniques like gentle onset, light articulatory contacts, and continuous airflow to promote smoother speech production. These strategies give individuals tools for managing moments of stuttering.
Stuttering Modification
Rather than trying to eliminate stuttering entirely, this approach helps individuals reduce the tension and struggle in moments of stuttering — making stuttering easier, less effortful, and less disruptive to communication.
Cognitive-Behavioral Approaches
Addressing the thoughts, feelings, and avoidance behaviors that often accompany stuttering. Building communication confidence and reducing the impact of stuttering on daily life and self-identity.
Lidcombe Program (for Young Children)
An evidence-based, parent-delivered treatment for preschool-age children who stutter. Parents learn to provide structured verbal feedback during natural conversations to promote fluency during the critical early years.
Our philosophy is that the goal of therapy is not necessarily "perfect fluency" — it is communication confidence. Some individuals want to work on fluency techniques. Others want to reduce the tension and struggle in their stuttering. Many want to address the avoidance and anxiety that has built up over years. We meet each person where they are and work toward the goals that matter most to them.
Who We Help
All ages
We provide fluency therapy for preschoolers, school-age children, teenagers, and adults. For young children, early intervention can significantly improve outcomes — the preschool years represent a critical window when stuttering is most likely to resolve with treatment.
For school-age children and teens, therapy addresses both the speech techniques and the social-emotional aspects of living with stuttering. For adults, therapy is focused on your individual goals — whether that is increased fluency, reduced avoidance, greater confidence in specific speaking situations, or all of the above.
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Schedule a consultation
Whether your child has recently started stuttering or you have been living with stuttering for years, we are here to help. Call us to discuss your goals.