Stuttering
07-13-2004, 07:57 AM
Aid available for stuttering
By Britney Holman
NewsNet Staff Writer
7 Jul 2004
In the past, parents racked their brains, trying to decipher what to do for their children with stuttering problems. Now Kids On the Move meets that needed service for families in the community.
Kids On The Move is an early-intervention program for families with disabled children in Utah County. The organization works with children up to 3 years old with their Early Intervention and Head Start programs.
A new program, Steps to More Fluent Speech, will help parents deal with their child's stuttering problem.
According to the Stuttering Foundation of America, more than 3 million Americans stutter. Of those 3 million, 1 percent are adults and 4 percent are children.
"There's a big need out there to address this problem with children, so Kids On The Move wanted to meet that need," said Gayleen Bennett, speech language pathologist for the program.
Bennett said children who show up with stuttering problems are usually between the ages of 2 and 6.
The parents and children are both trained in the program.
"We're going to help teach parents things they can do to help treat stuttering and diagnose if the child does display fluency disorder," said April Cecil, speech language pathologist for the program.
The parents and children not only learn helpful tactics on how to treat stuttering problems, but the program also helps to meet their special needs.
"We work on activities that they go home and practice for the whole week," Bennett said. "We talk about what went well and what didn't, because not every strategy works for every kid."
The program not only addresses stuttering problems for the kids but also provides a support group for the parents.
"It's very frustrating to want to be able to communicate and not be able to," said Mark Elliott, developmental director of Kids On The Move.
Parents need to understand their children to help them develop, he said. When parents have an association with other parents dealing with the same kind of problem it helps them have more patience with their child.
"So overall, it just strengthens that parent-child relationship," he said.
There is not an exact cure for stuttering. Researchers do not know exactly why stuttering occurs.
"There seems to be different causes of stuttering for different people," she said. "Hereditary factors as well as environmental influences play an important role. Problems with language may also be associated with stuttering."
Bennett said she hasn't seen too many cases of stuttering being hereditary, but she said she believes stuttering could develop from chaos in a child's life.
"For children, it could be their growth pattern. They may recently had a move or their mom had a baby or a divorce or a death," Bennett said.
Some say that it is the parent's fault if a child starts stuttering because of their environmental influences, but Bennett said that's not true.
Cecil said the earlier parents work to help the children, the better the situation will be for all involved.
"Start therapy early," Cecil said. "It's important to train all care-givers toward directly working with the child."
Bennett said she agreed, and she wanted people to know about the program so they can get the help they need.
"There is a lot of hope," she said.
Kids On The Move serves children in the Alpine School District area and requires that children qualify for the program to receive services.
The program begins July 7, meeting every Wednesday from 1:30 to 2:30 for a six-week period at 475 W. 260 North in Orem, just south of Orem Community Hospital.
Kids On The Move has more programs than Steps to More Fluent Speech.
The group was started in 1986 by two parents who had children with Down syndrome. They wanted to create a support group for parents with kids who had developmental problems.
"Last year we served over 1,000 children in the county with two main programs," Elliott said. "Our Early Intervention Program serves kids through age 3 with developmental disability, and our Head Start Program serves low-income families. A lot of our services are home based, so we provide specialists to come to their homes."
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/51149
By Britney Holman
NewsNet Staff Writer
7 Jul 2004
In the past, parents racked their brains, trying to decipher what to do for their children with stuttering problems. Now Kids On the Move meets that needed service for families in the community.
Kids On The Move is an early-intervention program for families with disabled children in Utah County. The organization works with children up to 3 years old with their Early Intervention and Head Start programs.
A new program, Steps to More Fluent Speech, will help parents deal with their child's stuttering problem.
According to the Stuttering Foundation of America, more than 3 million Americans stutter. Of those 3 million, 1 percent are adults and 4 percent are children.
"There's a big need out there to address this problem with children, so Kids On The Move wanted to meet that need," said Gayleen Bennett, speech language pathologist for the program.
Bennett said children who show up with stuttering problems are usually between the ages of 2 and 6.
The parents and children are both trained in the program.
"We're going to help teach parents things they can do to help treat stuttering and diagnose if the child does display fluency disorder," said April Cecil, speech language pathologist for the program.
The parents and children not only learn helpful tactics on how to treat stuttering problems, but the program also helps to meet their special needs.
"We work on activities that they go home and practice for the whole week," Bennett said. "We talk about what went well and what didn't, because not every strategy works for every kid."
The program not only addresses stuttering problems for the kids but also provides a support group for the parents.
"It's very frustrating to want to be able to communicate and not be able to," said Mark Elliott, developmental director of Kids On The Move.
Parents need to understand their children to help them develop, he said. When parents have an association with other parents dealing with the same kind of problem it helps them have more patience with their child.
"So overall, it just strengthens that parent-child relationship," he said.
There is not an exact cure for stuttering. Researchers do not know exactly why stuttering occurs.
"There seems to be different causes of stuttering for different people," she said. "Hereditary factors as well as environmental influences play an important role. Problems with language may also be associated with stuttering."
Bennett said she hasn't seen too many cases of stuttering being hereditary, but she said she believes stuttering could develop from chaos in a child's life.
"For children, it could be their growth pattern. They may recently had a move or their mom had a baby or a divorce or a death," Bennett said.
Some say that it is the parent's fault if a child starts stuttering because of their environmental influences, but Bennett said that's not true.
Cecil said the earlier parents work to help the children, the better the situation will be for all involved.
"Start therapy early," Cecil said. "It's important to train all care-givers toward directly working with the child."
Bennett said she agreed, and she wanted people to know about the program so they can get the help they need.
"There is a lot of hope," she said.
Kids On The Move serves children in the Alpine School District area and requires that children qualify for the program to receive services.
The program begins July 7, meeting every Wednesday from 1:30 to 2:30 for a six-week period at 475 W. 260 North in Orem, just south of Orem Community Hospital.
Kids On The Move has more programs than Steps to More Fluent Speech.
The group was started in 1986 by two parents who had children with Down syndrome. They wanted to create a support group for parents with kids who had developmental problems.
"Last year we served over 1,000 children in the county with two main programs," Elliott said. "Our Early Intervention Program serves kids through age 3 with developmental disability, and our Head Start Program serves low-income families. A lot of our services are home based, so we provide specialists to come to their homes."
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/51149