Services & Specialties
Pathways Forward Center for Stuttering
Stuttering Therapy Services
Early Childhood
Children aged 2-6
School-Age and Adolescent
Ages 7-18
Adult Therapy
Age 19+
Other Fluency Concerns
Perhaps you are unsure if you or your child is stuttering. You may have noticed periods of quick speech, hesitations or breaks in the message or repetition of the end sounds of words. This may be sign of a fluency disorder. At Pathways Forward I will work with you and your family to develop a plan towards clearer, more effective communication.
Multi-Factored Evaluation
Stuttering and other fluency disorders are complex. It is critical that therapy begins with a comprehensive, multi-factored evaluation. This allows therapy to be tailored to meet the unique needs of you or your child. The evaluation process provides for appropriate diagnosis, understanding of relevant contributing factors, and collaboration in goal setting based on client and family preferences.
In addition, if you or your child have co-occurring speech and language difficulties those can be addressed in the evaluation and therapy as well.
If you have had a recent evaluation, it may be accepted in full or part in place of the multi-factored evaluation.
I am familiar with the following therapy approaches
Palin PCIT
Stuttering Modification
Mindfulness
Lidcombe
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Fluency Shaping
Solution Focused Therapy
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I expect from a multi-factored evaluation?
The multi-factored evaluation will include the following: a thorough case history with possible review of historical documents, an analysis of fluency across multiple contexts, any necessary speech and language testing to further determine contributing factors, in depth review of the evaluation results and a discussion of options for therapy.
Why did stuttering seem to come out of nowhere?
While sudden onset of stuttering can be stressful for families, this is often how stuttering begins. Your child may have had no difficulty getting their words out and all the sudden they begin stuttering. While stuttering often decreases or is variable following onset, it is helpful to seek guidance as to whether therapy is necessary to support your child during development. As part of the multi-factored evaluation, recommendations regarding therapy will be discussed in detail so you can make an informed decision regarding your child’s care.
I’ve been stuttering for a long time. Can things get better?
The short answer is YES! Following the multi-factored evaluation, therapy will be customized to meet your unique needs. You will learn to build off your strengths as well as learn new skills from a variety of evidence-based practices to support you in achieving your communication goals.
Why is my child stuttering?
While we don’t know all the answers, we know a lot about contributing factors to stuttering. You or your child may have some or most of these contributing factors including a family history of stuttering, gender-as more boys than girls continue to stutter, differences in speech and language skills, and variations in temperament. As part of the evaluation process, you will gain an understanding of variables that are relevant to you or your child. It is important to realize that parents do not cause stuttering.
What can I do to help my child?
While you may be tempted or have told your child to “slow down, take a deep breathe, or think about what you want to say” this is not recommended. I do want you to know these are all very normal reaction to hearing your child stuttering. Instead, try giving your child extra time to get their words out, ensure that others do as well, focus on the content of their message and talk with your child in a relaxed, calm manner when possible.
My child seems to be repeating the end of words or stopping in the middle of words. Is this stuttering?
While this is not stuttering, it is a sign of a fluency disorder. These types of patterns are referred to as atypical speech disfluencies and can impact the effectiveness of the speaker. There are a variety of treatment approaches we can use in therapy to improve you or your child’s communication.
How to Get Started
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1st Session!
Services are held in person or via Telehealth or online. I look forward to meeting you!