Practical Thoughts Blog
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!
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 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.
Mar 07, 2019
How do I write IEP goals for preschool children who stutter?
Writing IEP goals for preschool and young school-age children who stutter presents a unique challenge for clinicians, because most of the early therapy is done with and through the parents. Learn how to handle this by writing goals for both less-direct and more-direct aspects of therapy.
Mar 05, 2019
Don’t just tell parents to “wait and see what happens!”
J. Scott Yaruss has a lot of pet peeves. One of them is when speech-language pathologists tell parents of young children who stutter to just "wait and see what happens." Read this blog post to find out why!
Dec 01, 2018
Why don’t we write goals about fluency?
Writing IEP goals presents a unique challenge for clinicians working with children who stutter. In this blog post, Dr. Yaruss argues that we should not be writing goals based on fluency. Click to find out why!
Nov 08, 2018
How do I screen a preschooler or young school-age child who stutters?
Clinicians are often asked to do informal evaluations of a young child who may or may not be stuttering. This post from Dr. Yaruss describes what to look for and how to decide if a full evaluation is needed.
Aug 28, 2018
Answering SLP SUMMIT Questions
What a wonderful time I had presenting at the 2018 SLP SUMMIT! Thank you for submitting so many questions during and after the presentation...This is the place to find answers!
May 24, 2018
What should we say to the parent of a young child who has recently started to stutter?
When a young child starts to stutter, it can be a frightening experience for parents. They may call you or email you in distress, and it's important that you know how to respond in a way that reduces their fears and helps them make appropriate decisions about whether or when to seek an evaluation and therapy.