Fluency | Montclair Speech Therapy

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What is a Fluency disorder?

Fluency disorders can present differently in individuals across the lifespan. Fluency refers to the rate, smoothness, continuity, and effort involved in speech production. When one or more of these aspects of speech are disrupted, a fluency disorder may be present.

Speech may be impacted by involuntary repetition, prolonged speech sounds, and/or blocks that interrupt the flow of communication. Speech-language therapy can help individuals develop strategies to support more fluent, natural, and effective communication.

Treatment focuses on fluency enhancing strategies and stuttering modification techniques that teach individuals to navigate their disfluencies by promoting awareness and implementation of these interventions.

A neurodevelopment communication difference, that can arise from the way the brain processes language and speech. It can very across situations, emotions, and environments. Disfluencies can affect how smooth a person starts words, moves between sounds, or maintains steady speech.

Unlike stuttering which involves clear moments of being “stuck” or repeating sounds, cluttering is marked by speech that moves too quickly, collapses sounds or syllables, merges words, and/or becomes disorganized affecting clarity and overall communication effectiveness.

Typical Signs of Fluency Disorders

Repetitions: Repeating sounds, syllables, parts of words, or whole words.
Prolongations: Stretching out a sound or syllable for a longer time.
Blocks: Sudden stops in airflow or voice where a person tries to speak, but no sound comes out.
Speech Rate: Speaking with a rapid or irregular rate.
Collapsing or Merging Sounds/Syllables: Running words together or dropping word endings.
Disorganized Language: Starting sentences without clear direction, getting lost in thought, or having trouble organizing sentences.