Disfluency Challenges: Word-Final Disfluency vs. Non-Stuttering Like Disfluency

Speech Disorders Speech Therapy Techniques

Speech Therapy Help for These Similar Disfluencies in Children

When you think of stuttering you might envision a scene from The King’s Speech or someone you know who struggles with the beginning sounds of words. But what about when you hear those repeated sounds at the end of words – is it stuttering or something else?

Speech disorders can sound similar but have very different origins

Courtesy of DIYHealth.com

Sometimes the difference between typical disfluency and stuttering seems to only be as insignificant as a syllable. But when it comes to speech disorders, syllables take on significant roles. A recently recognized disfluency known as word-final or word-end disfluency usually falls under the general category of non-typical stuttering and can be challenging for pediatricians and caregivers to recognize as a stuttering speech disorder. Making the challenge even greater, SLPs are often charged with discriminating between word-final disfluency and non-stuttering like disfluency.

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Singing without a Stutter: Music as a Speech Therapy Tool

Speech Disorders Speech Therapy Techniques
The symptoms of stuttering

Source: ihavesvoice.info

We all know the brain works in mysterious ways, but every so often we are reminded of just how magical it is. This is particularly so when we examine it’s response to music in populations with Language disorders as a speech therapy technique. By now, you may have seen this video of American Idol contestant Lazaro Arbos’ audition. While his rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is astounding enough, watch what happens to his rather severe stutter when he begins to sing:

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The Cluttered Speaker

Speech Disorders
Child Covering His Mouth

Image source: ourkids.net

As children grow, they develop fluency in their native tongues. Fluency refers to the typical flow of speech. Children with a fluency disorder often display prolonged speech sounds and word repetitions. Stuttering is one widely recognized fluency disorder; cluttering is another. These two disorders may be considered to be “cousins.” To the untrained ear, it can be difficult to distinguish these two fluency disorders.

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