Practical Thoughts Blog
Oct 20, 2019
What do I do if the child won’t use strategies?
One of the most common challenges that speech-language pathologists and parents of children who stutter face occurs when children know their speech strategies but don't use them. Read on to find out why and what to do about it!
Oct 04, 2019
What are the different approaches for treating preschool children who stutter?
Prior blog posts have talked about the importance of individualized therapy for young children who stutter. This time, Dr. Yaruss provides a brief overview of the available approaches to help clinicians make informed choices that match each child's and family's unique needs.
Oct 04, 2019
Individualized Therapy for Young Children Who Stutter and Their Families
When selecting a therapy approach for a young child who stutters, it is important not to fall into the trap of making blanket recommendations or using the same therapy approach with everyone. Individualized treatment is the key to success!
Sep 24, 2019
Do I need to use the SSI?
Many clinicians assume that they need to complete frequency counts or severity measures of stuttering, such as the SSI, so that they have a "standardized" assessment. It turns out that the SSI is not the only standardized tool out there!
Aug 21, 2019
Is there an app that can count disfluencies for me?
Counting disfluencies is time-consuming and not terribly reliable. Wouldn't it be nice if this could be done automatically?
Aug 03, 2019
Introduction to Strategies Video
In our first vlog entry, we bring you one of our "Practical Videos" from our training series on using speech strategies. Follow us here or on our YouTube channel for more!
Jul 31, 2019
How do I know if treatment is indicated for a young child who stutters?
Determining whether a young child who stutters needs therapy is complicated by the fact that most children who stutter in the preschool years actually recover on their own. By focusing on key risk factors, we can make evidence-based decisions about when treatment is most likely to be needed.
Jun 10, 2019
How do I help a child who stutters who also has a cognitive impairment?
Helping children who stutter who also exhibit a cognitive impairment presents a unique seat of challenges for speed-language pathologists. Still, there is much that we can do to help.
May 22, 2019
Is it “developmental stuttering” or “normal disfluency” or “true stuttering” or what?!?!?
The terminology used for describing stuttering has long been a source of confusion for speech-language pathologists and parents alike. In this blog post, Dr. Yaruss argues that we should do away with the old terms and adopt some newer, simpler language for describing stuttering.
Apr 24, 2019
How do I score the Stuttering Severity Instrument? (SSI)
Scoring the Stuttering Severity Instrument can sometimes be confusing...do you count just instances of stuttering or all disfluencies? What "counts" as a moment of stuttering, anyway? Read on to find out!
Apr 19, 2019
What treatment approach is best for a preschool child who stutters?
Clinicians are often uncertain about how to choose an appropriate, evidence-based treatment approach for young children who stutter. In this post, Dr. Yaruss encourages clinicians to first consider a child's and family's needs before selecting a specific approach.
Apr 01, 2019
Why don't we write goals about fluency? (Round 2)
Nina Reeves stirred up a bit of a storm during a recent professional development workshop, when she said that speech-language pathologists should not write treatment goals for children who stutter that are based on the frequency or severity of stuttering. Read her post to find out why!
