麻豆直播

Clinical educator at the Curtin Stuttering Clinic Kathy Viljoen, with parents and children from the program.

Author | Carmelle Wilkinson

Imagine you鈥檙e at school, running around the playground with your friends.

You have a great idea for the next game, but just as you put your hand up to get everyone鈥檚 attention, you clamp up.

The words are on tip of your tongue, but a wave of fear suddenly washes over you.

With your heart racing and your palms getting sweatier by the second, you feel a tightening in your throat as you struggle to speak 鈥� silence.

Your friends become agitated and run off, leaving you with feelings of frustration, shame and humiliation.

Sadly, this is a daily struggle for children like Hamish Quekett with a stutter.

Diagnosed at seven, Hamish also lives with autism and ADHD.

鈥淗amish鈥檚 father had a speech impediment growing up and I have ADHD 鈥� so we think his condition was inheritable,鈥欌�� said Hamish鈥檚 mum Louise.

鈥淗e was also a late talker, and at one point we thought maybe he couldn鈥檛 hear us because he rarely responded when we called him.

鈥淲hen Hamish did start to talk around three years of age, even though we noticed a slight stutter, we were just so happy he was talking at all.鈥�

Louise and Hamish Quekett.

Despite these early warning signs, Louise said it wasn鈥檛 until Hamish was in Year 3 that his stutter was diagnosed.

鈥淗is teachers would often tell me not to worry and that he would grow out of it, and to be honest the stutter wasn鈥檛 his biggest challenge so I myself didn鈥檛 stress about it,鈥欌�� she said.

鈥淭alking was a huge chore for Hamish and school became a nightmare for him. It got so bad that he could barely communicate some days.鈥�

Louise said Hamish鈥檚 stutter affected all areas of his life, but school was where it really took its toll.

鈥淗is stuttering affected his friendships, and he became a target for bullies because he had problems communicating,鈥欌�� she said.

鈥淓ventually, Hamish just stopped participating in school.鈥�

Thankfully, a recommendation by a former speech therapist led Louise to The 麻豆直播 Stuttering Treatment Clinic (CUSTC).

Clinical educator Kathy Viljoen manages the clinic, supervising speech pathology students to offer both individual and group treatment to people of all ages for the management of stuttering and fluency disorders.

Since joining the program, Hamish is a happier 13-year-old.

鈥淲hile he still gets nervous and anxious when he talks, for the most part he鈥檚 doing so much better socially,鈥欌�� Louise said.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 talk more highly of the Clinic. It has done wonders for Hamish and more than that he loves going there.

鈥淓very Tuesday when I pick him up, he chats to me in the car, something he very rarely did.鈥�

Louise said previous therapy sessions with external speech pathologists proved fruitless and would often result in Hamish walking out on the first session.

鈥淎fter his first session with the CUSTC he told me Mum that was fun. I almost fainted,鈥欌�� she said.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 thank the staff enough. They are amazing, they make the time to really talk and listen to the children, and Hamish has even made some friends.

鈥淭heir teachings are so simple yet, so effective and they work on building the child鈥檚 confidence and self-esteem too.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very holistic approach which I love.鈥�

Julia Robinson said the Clinic had given her son Harvey hope.

Julia Robinson said her son Harvey had showed remarkable progress since starting the program.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been amazing for him. They really go above and beyond to help the children thrive,鈥欌�� she said.

鈥淗arvey loves attending and uses the techniques learned on his own.

In Australia, stuttering affects more than 1 in 100 and can affect anyone.

However, it usually starts in childhood, between the ages of about two and four, when language skills are being developed.

Curtin PhD student Rachel Michael said the disorder disrupts the way a person speaks.

Curtin PhD Speech Pathology student Rachel Michael.

Those with a stutter might repeat sounds (c-c-can), syllables (da-da-daddy), words (and-and-and) or phrases (I want-I want-I want).

They may also stretch out the sounds in words (caaaaan I go) or make no sound at all (called a 鈥榖lock鈥�) when they try to speak but no sound comes out.

Thanks to a generous donor who struggled with a stutter throughout her life, Rachel was gifted a scholarship to explore the lack of support for school-aged children who stutter.

鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful to have met my donor and thanked her personally,鈥� she said.

鈥淗earing how stuttering had impacted her life, has made my work in this area so much more real and purposeful.

鈥淭he support from the scholarship alleviates financial stress and allows me to focus on my research, rather than seek out additional clinical work.鈥�

Internationally renowned stuttering expert Associate Professor , who established the CUSTC, alongside parenting expert Associate Professor and researcher and lecturer Dr comprise Rachel鈥檚 supervisory team.

Her research, titled 鈥楩luency and Psychosocial Sequelae in School-aged Children who Stutter鈥�, will investigate holistic, family-focused treatment options to help support children who stutter 鈥� who are at greater risk of negative peer reactions, rejection and bullying.

Rachel said having watched a loved one get bullied at school she was all too familiar with the pain and frustration this can bring to the child and their family.

鈥淪tuttering can involve avoidance of particularly difficult words and phrases, which in turn hinders one鈥檚 ability to express themselves freely and restricts participation, particularly socially and vocationally.

鈥淔or instance, if someone dreamed of being a teacher, or a lawyer, they may give up that dream to pursue something else that requires little interaction with people due to difficulty speaking and negative responses of those around them.鈥�

Born in the coastal town of Albany, Rachel spent her childhood years helping on the family鈥檚 22-acre hobby farm.

Rachel (right) with her older sister Sarah hanging out on their farm in Albany.

While a country girl at heart, Rachel never gravitated toward Agriculture, instead taking great interest in Science and English.

鈥淔ollowing year 12 I was drawn to Speech Pathology, because it combined these two interests,鈥欌�� she said.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 long into my studies at Curtin that I started to get incredibly excited and passionate about it.

鈥淩esearchers have learned a lot about stuttering in recent years, yet there are still so many unknowns to investigate,鈥欌�� she said.

Rachel said a common misconception about stuttering was that it is the result of someone being nervous and shy and was something that would go away on its own.

鈥淯nfortunately, this isn鈥檛 true,鈥欌�� she said.

鈥淪tuttering occurs when there is a difficulty with the brain processes that control speech in the presence of environmental demands and if treated early, we know children have a high chance of recovering.

鈥淭his is because there is a greater degree of neuroplasticity when people are young. As we get older neuroplasticity decreases, and treatment influences the brain鈥檚 development to a much lesser extent.鈥�

Through her research, Rachel will study the prevalence of significant psychosocial effects on primary school-aged children who stutter.

She will also explore speech fluency training combined with additional family-focused intervention strategies to help school-aged children who stutter to communicate clearly and confidently.

鈥淪tuttering isn鈥檛 well understood in the community,鈥欌�� she said.

鈥淎s part of my research I鈥檇 like to get the word out about stuttering and continue equipping people like educators and parents, because everyone has the best interest of these kids at heart and wants to help.

鈥淏ut perhaps at times we just don’t have the required information in order to do so.鈥�

Author | Carmelle Wilkinson

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