Center for Children Who Stutter

Center Helps Children Who Stutter

Helping to overcome the problem

March 1, 2007

By Valerie Orleans


They are the kids who won’t raise their hands in class. Instead of ordering off a restaurant menu, they’ll point at the item they want. They won’t answer the phone. These are the children who stutter. And they’re not alone. It is estimated that more than 3 million Americans stutter.

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“Often the public isn’t aware of how much these children suffer,” said Sherri Wolff, director of the Center for Children Who Stutter at Cal State Fullerton. “They avoid activities where they have to speak because they’re afraid of stuttering.”

To help children overcome the problem, Glyndon and Jeanna Riley, Robert Emry and Elizabeth Mechling, who worked with faculty and graduate students in the communicative disorders program at CSUF, founded the center in 1995. The nonprofit clinic estimates that some 15,000 children, ages 3 to 12 who stutter, live near the center.

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According to Wolff, children often begin exhibiting symptoms of stuttering around age 3. Boys are three times more likely than girls to stutter, she said.        

Some signs to look for: consistently repeating words, difficulty getting words out and frustration. If these signs persist for three months or more, an evaluation by a speech pathologist is recommended. With appropriate, early intervention, recovery is likely. At the center, individualized treatment plans are used to work with each client. Fluency-enhancing tools, as well as oral motor coordination tasks, are some of the therapy techniques used.

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Wolff points out that there are many ways to help children overcome or reduce the incidence of stuttering. Therapy can improve verbal fluency, give children more control and increase their confidence.

Any child can receive services, regardless of ability to pay. The majority of children treated at the center are on scholarships.

The center recently was chosen “Program of the Year” by the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

For more information, call 657-278-4570 or visit www.fullerton.edu/ccws.