Key to combating the speech disorder is early intervention
When April Ethridge noticed her 3 1/2-year-old son was developing a pattern of stuttering early this year, she worried that he could come to face the same stress and embarrassment that she combated growing up.
Though Ethridge, 35, of Springfield, Va., quickly learned her guilt was unfounded — that parents are not responsible for their child’s stuttering (the problem is neurological) — her concerns about Maddox’s potential for long-term stuttering were legitimate. She decided to get him into speech therapy right away, and he has already demonstrated great improvement. What some may consider a minor problem — one that affects 1 percent of the population, or 3 million Americans — experts know to be a detriment to daily life, affecting academic performance, career choices, and even personality.
“Think about every encounter in a whole day — getting up, getting on the bus, getting to the classroom, getting teased, going to the lunchroom, answering someone’s question,” said Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation of America, founded in 1947. “Everything you do all day long is affected by this disorder.” Ethridge says that even people who mean well place extra pressure on a child who stutters. “I think the worst thing about fluency [problems] is the stress that it causes you … knowing that the second you open your mouth someone is judging you, that’s very stressful,” Ethridge said.
That judgment usually stems from a lack of understanding about stuttering. Children with very high IQs can still suffer from a number of speech disorders, says Jennifer LaFreniere, MA, CCC-SLP, director of the Speech Therapists of Old Town. The speech therapy she received at age 14 was too late, Ethridge says, and she hopes that helping Maddox early can stop his stuttering altogether. Experts agree: Early intervention is key.
Stuttering is a disfluency — it interrupts the flow of speech in one or many ways, such as through repetition of sounds or words, prolongation of words, or a struggle to get words out at all. Fluency problems are only one type of speech disorder. Jennifer LaFreniere, MA, CCC-SLP, describes the other major speech disorders:
» Articulation deals with how words are pronounced » Language affects the speaker’s ability to express thoughts or comprehend concepts. » Language reception refers to how the speaker understands concepts, and expressive language disorders may include problems with verb tense and syntax when speaking.
» Oral motor, a sensory disorder, can be an abnormal amount of sensitivity in the mouth that affects how the speaker eats or brushes his or her teeth. This type of speech disorder most commonly affects kids with autism.
» Voice disorders can be caused by things like calluses on vocal chords brought on when kids scream too much. » Myofunctional disorders affect swallowing and tongue placement, and can push teeth out of alignment If you suspect your child may be suffering from another type of speech disorder, ask a certified speech language pathologist for more information.
According to SFA, kids who stutter before age 3 1/2 are more likely to outgrow it than kids who start stuttering later — in other words, yes, for many kids, these speech problems are only a phase. However, waiting too long may also mean the problem can’t be reversed. Fraser says you want to help kids combat stuttering as early as 2 to 4 years of age. Risk factors can help you determine if your child’s speech problem may persist. According to LaFreniere, therapy in kids older than age 8 aims to control the problem, rather than reverse it.
According to SFA, kids who stutter before age 3 1/2 are more likely to outgrow it than kids who start stuttering later — in other words, yes, for many kids, these speech problems are only a phase. However, waiting too long may also mean the problem can’t be reversed. Fraser says you want to help kids combat stuttering as early as 2 to 4 years of age. Risk factors can help you determine if your child’s speech problem may persist.
According to LaFreniere, therapy in kids older than age 8 aims to control the problem, rather than reverse it. For parents who do seek professional help, LaFreniere advises against two common mistakes: Withdrawing a child from therapy the minute stuttering appears to have stopped, or seeking therapy at institutions that claim to produce unbelievable results, like a “cure in a week.” For children who go to public school, a speech therapist there may be able to help.
According to Fraser, these therapists can often be overextended, and may not be able to see kids whose problems aren’t the most severe. For these kids and for adults, a private therapist may be the best option. You can find a speech language pathologist at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s ProSearch at asha.org/findpro or on the referral lists at stutteringhelp.org.
Parents can also visit SFA’s Web site for information and free materials to use at home to combat stuttering. For more information, call SFA at 800-992-9392, or visit them online at stutteringhelp.org.
Katie can be reached at [email protected].
