Cluttering

Children who clutter do not always perceive the errors in their speech and may feel the person they are talking with isn’t listening to them. The child who clutters often becomes very frustrated; they feel they are being corrected unnecessarily. Children who clutter need to be supported and families need tips to communicate without causing increased frustration. At Granite Bay Speech, we support your family as you work to improve communication skills. We understand the challenges behind cluttering and help to bridge communication gaps.

Parents often feel overwhelmed due to the complexities of cluttering. We organize a step by step therapy plan which is easy to follow. Therapy goals are broken down into small achievable goals. We specialize in treating fluency disorders and have worked with many children who clutter. We identify and address the specific needs of your child. To the untrained ear, cluttering is often mistaken for stuttering and inappropriate treatment strategies are utilized. It is important to consult a speech-language pathologist who has expertise in fluency disorders to develop an effective treatment plan for cluttering. Our director, Nancy Barcal has decades of experience treating fluency disorders, and she has trained the Granite Bay Staff. You can be assured of a competent diagnosis and treatment when you consult with Granite Bay Speech.

Therapy goals may include: slowing speech rate, formulating concise ideas, practicing rhythmic speech for clear articulation, and breathing naturally.

Academic areas which are often affected include, listening skills, spelling and reading. A child who clutters often has difficulty perceiving the unstressed syllable and they may perceive vowel sounds incorrectly. At Granite Bay Speech, we are capable of diagnosing and treating the root cause of common academic difficulties.

Children who clutter tend to be small in stature, and may reach normal gross motor skills (sitting, standing, walking, and hopping) later than their typically developing peers. Children who clutter may exhibit behaviors that are similar to a child with ADHD: hyperactivity, impulsivity, and restlessness.

Language development is often delayed, resulting in difficulty with word retrieval and word order. Motor and language delays often cause an individual who clutters to avoid complex sentences or multisyllabic words. A child may want to say, beautiful, but may instead substitute the word, nice, to avoid pronouncing a longer word. Longer words require advanced motor speech skills which are often delayed in a child who clutters.

Childhood developmental concerns may be related to cluttering. Read the following to see if any of these apply to your childhood development:

As a child, adults who clutter may have been small in stature, and may have reached normal gross motor skills (sitting, standing, walking, and hopping) later than their typically developing peers. Children who clutter may exhibit behaviors that are similar to a child with ADHD: hyperactivity, impulsivity, and restlessness. Language development is often delayed resulting in difficulty with word retrieval and word order. Motor and language delays often cause an individual who clutters to avoid complex sentences or multisyllabic words. A child may want to say, beautiful, but may substitute the word, nice, instead, to avoid pronouncing a longer word. The longer word requires advanced motor speech skills which are often delayed in a child who clutters.

Academic areas which are often affected include spelling and reading; a child who clutters does not always perceive the unstressed syllable, nor do they perceive vowel sounds accurately. Your parents may have brought you to a tutor if you cluttered as a child.

In order to obtain the best results, parents are now advised to seek treatment from a speech-language pathologist who is trained and licensed to treat cluttering and academic disorders.

While many people who clutter may have received treatment as a child, they were often misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated for a language disorder, stuttering, or speech sound disorders; they were not treated for cluttering. Many adults who clutter are pleasantly surprised at their rapid progress when they seek treatment at Granite Bay Speech. We utilize effective, research based techniques for fluency disorders which were unavailable, as recently as ten years ago.

You can help by understanding what cluttering is and how the person who clutters perceives their speech. While you do not experience cluttering, you can try to imagine what it would be like if every time you spoke someone said your speech was garbled and unclear. A person who clutters is faced with people asking them to repeat their speech every day. Individuals who clutter often decrease verbal communication. They are tired and discouraged when they are constantly told they are not understood. A person who clutters may feel they are being corrected unnecessarily. When a person clutters they often do not perceive the errors in their speech. They may feel the person they are talking with isn’t listening to their message. They might feel others are waiting to catch an error in their speech and ignoring their ideas. But don’t worry; there are many easy ways you can help.

First, obtain accurate information about cluttering and share with your spouse that you have a better understanding of what he is experiencing. Then ask if he is interested in learning about techniques to improve his speech so you can communicate with less stress. Nancy will meet with you in a confidential appointment to provide helpful techniques that can be utilized immediately to improve communication skills. She will discuss treatment options that fit your time and budget. Therapy techniques and technology are utilized to obtain progress in a short period of time.

Granite Bay Speech specializes in treating fluency disorders and we have worked with many individuals who clutter. We identify and address the specific needs of each individual. To the untrained ear, cluttering is often mistaken for stuttering and inappropriate treatment strategies are utilized. It is important to consult a speech-language pathologist who has expertise in fluency disorders to develop an effective treatment plan. Our director, Nancy Barcal, has treated fluency disorders for over 3 decades. You can be assured of competent diagnosis and treatment when you consult with Granite Bay Speech.

Therapy goals may include: slowing speech rate, formulating concise ideas, practicing rhythmic speech for clear articulation, and breathing naturally. Adults who clutter are often asked to repeat what they say because their listener does not understand their fast speech. Adults who clutter are often asked to slow their speech rate, yet without therapy techniques, they are unable to self-monitor their fluency.