Stuttering Therapy Services from The Loop
Chicago families have access to skilled communication experts, highly trained to assess and treat stuttering in children
When your child experiences difficulties with their speech and language, you feel it along with them.
If your child stutters, you may worry this issue will negatively impact their self-concept, education, and prospects.
Thankfully, many highly successful individuals overcame issues with stuttering to go on to live rich, full lives.
They include well-known folks, like—
Marilyn Monroe
James Earl Jones
Jimmy Stewart
President Joe Biden
And Winston Churchill
These individuals not only conquered their issues with stuttering—they went on to become prominent public figures, known for public speaking.
And today, we have even more tools and resources than ever to assess and treat stuttering in children.
If your child is impacted by stuttering, The Loop is here to help. Our therapists are highly skilled at assessing and treating stuttering and other speech and language issues in children.
What is stuttering and why does it happen?
Stuttering is a communication disorder that impacts the flow of speech. Children who stutter experience difficulty with saying certain words, and can struggle to be understood as a result.
Stuttering is a type of fluency disorder, meaning it affects how easily and quickly a person can produce clear speech.
Stuttering has nothing to do with your child’s intelligence—in fact, many children who stutter are highly intelligent.
Many children go through a stuttering phase when they’re learning speech and language skills. This is often because their minds are working faster than their brains can send the correct signals to their speech muscles to keep up.
But, some children continue to stutter. When this happens, it can affect their performance in school and their self-concept.
Stuttering is often unpredictable. Your child may stutter more when they’re tired, anxious, or in certain situations. They may experience more episodes of dysfluency at school than at home.
Many people who stutter anticipate words, phrases, and situations that will cause them to be dysfluent. This can cause anxiety and make stuttering worse.
Without treatment, kids who stutter are at risk of developing low self-esteem and anxiety, Their stuttering also puts them at risk of withdrawing from social and school situations and not fully participating in their educational experience.
A majority of kids who stutter also have a relative who’s coped with this issue. Children with other speech, language, and developmental disorders are also more likely to stutter.
How does The Loop assess and treat stuttering in children?
If your child stutters, you may feel at a loss to help them overcome this issue.
Thankfully, you’re not alone. And there is much that can be done to support your child with addressing and conquering their issues with dysfluent speech.
The Loop is here to partner with you to support both you and your child in overcoming any speech, language, or communication issues they face.
We were founded and are helmed by a speech-language pathologist, who’s assembled a hand-picked team of top-notch therapists and learning support specialists—to help Chicago families in need of quality speech, language, and learning supports.
When your child works with us, we custom tailor our assessments and therapy services to meet their unique personality and needs. This personalized approach is especially beneficial in working with children who stutter, as no two children who stutter are alike.
In stuttering therapy, we often utilize a blend of direct and indirect treatment strategies, for optimal results.
Direct strategies are designed to help your child modify how they speak, to reduce episodes of dysfluency
Indirect strategies are designed to make it easier for your child to produce fluent speech
When your child sees us for stuttering therapy, we may train both them and you in a combination of the following techniques and strategies—
Using a slower rate of speech
Articulation strategies
Asking fewer questions
Training in fluency modification strategies
Building self-awareness and monitoring skills
No matter the strategies we select for your child, you can always rely on them being individualized and evidence-based.
Parents and teachers are an important part of stuttering treatment. That’s why we always work to involve you and your child’s educational team in their therapy with us—because it takes a village!
The Loop will also help you learn strategies to support your child when they stutter and to enhance your child’s self-confidence and beliefs about themself as a communicator.
How can Chicago families access The Loop’s therapy and learning support services?
The Loop is honored to partner exclusively with Chicago private schools, who are invested in offering the families they serve access to the very best in therapy and learning support services.
Interested in getting in The Loop? Learn more.
Complete our contact form online and we’ll reach out to connect with you and answer your questions.
Or, email us at info@theloopsll.com. You can also reach us by phone at 773.720.0646. And be sure to connect with us on your favorite social platforms @TheLoopSLL
What is stuttering?
Stuttering, also referred to as a fluency disorder, is a communication disorder that interrupts a child’s rate and flow of speech. These instances of stuttering are called dysfluencies. Stuttering is unpredictable. Some days might be better or worse than others and children may stutter more in some places (like school) than others (like home). About 60% of people who stutter also have a relative who stutters and children with other speech, language, or developmental disorder are more likely to stutter.
What happens in stuttering therapy?
For school-aged children, treatment may include the use of direct strategies that help the child change how they speak and indirect strategies that help make it easier for your child to talk. These strategies can include slowing down your own speech and asking fewer questions. Parents and teachers are an important part of stuttering treatment. The Loop will work with you so you can learn more about how to respond when your child stutters and what to do to improve how your child feels about talking.
Learn More/Resources:
https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/stuttering/
http://www.nsastutter.org/
https://www.stutteringhelp.org/
https://www.say.org/
https://stuttertalk.com/