Fluency Therapies
Fluency, the fluidity of one's speech, can be impacted by one's neurology, cognition, emotional state, and/or confidence. At Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy we have a superb team of speech-language pathologists who focus on working with adults on stuttering/stammering, cluttering, dysfluency related to anxiety, and filler words. Click on one of the links below to find out more about the type of service you are interested in:
Stuttering or stammering is a fluency disorder where there are repetitions, blocks or prolongations during speech. In this article, we will go through how stuttering was perceived and treated during different eras and periods.
Fluency disorder can be defined as “an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by atypical rate, rhythm and disfluencies (eg. Repetitions of sounds, syllables, words and phrases; sound prolongations and blocks), which may also be accompanied by excessive tension, speaking avoidance, struggle behaviours and secondary mannerisms” (ASHA, 1993).
Stuttering, a communication disorder characterized by disruptions in the normal flow of speech, affects millions of individuals worldwide. While there is no shortage of speech therapy options aiming to address and alleviate stuttering, a growing body of research emphasizes the importance of acceptance in the therapeutic process.
It has been observed that most people with stuttering seem to be anxious about their speech. They generally try to avoid speaking or speaking situations as such. This anxiety is mostly due to the fear of stuttering in front of someone and the fear of being judged by that person. The more the listener is a stranger the more the speaker gets anxious.
One of the most damaging things a child with a speech impediment can hear at an early age is that they need to “fix” their speech. Many children who stutter internalize this message and believe they are “broken” in some fundamental way.
Some people who stutter are so good at masking their struggle with fluid speech that you would never know they stuttered.
The real problem with stuttering is actually non-stutterers. Let’s put the blame where it’s due.
As most of us know by now or at least have heard something about it, USA President Joe Biden stutters. He has struggled with stuttering his whole life.
Stuttering, refers to speech characterized by an abnormally high frequency of stoppages. Such stoppages in the flow of speech — or disfluencies—may come in the form of involuntary repetitions of sounds, syllables (beats), words, sound elongations, blocks or pauses. How is it caused? Why does it happen?
Ask Me Anything: Stuttering
Yes, a head injury can either cause or worsen stuttering.
Samuel L. Jackson is a Black actor who stutters. He reports that he was able to overcome it through acting.
As airflow is the foundation of speech, when the airflow is obstructed due to tension and uncontrolled closing of oral muscles, the sound produced is compromised.
Craig Skistimas, also known as Stuttering Craig, the co-founder of ScrewAttack which is a production company for video games.
The adored pig from Looney Tunes, Porky Pig, has a stutter. It has been found that he stutters 23% of his spoken words and uses a wide variety of stuttering types.
Stuttering affects around 70 million people worldwide, so yes of course there is going to be a comedian who stutters.
The National Stuttering Association (https://westutter.org/) is a good website to find news about stuttering. The ‘Stuttering Foundation’ is another website that provides the most up to date news (https://www.stutteringhelp.org)
News reporter John Stossel is a news reporter who stuttered. News reporter and journalist Byron Pitts also stutter.
There are two general philosophies of stuttering treatment: Fluency shaping, and Stuttering acceptance
When an individual stutters, the voice may change as there is additional tension on the vocal folds and on the musculature surrounding it.
Although disfluencies and dysfluencies are similar, there are certain differences between them. In this article we will read about disfluencies, dysfluencies and the differences between them.