From an episode of Einstein A Go-Go∙Presented by Dr Shane
Interview
Einstein A Go-Go: Speech Pathologist Dr Georgie Johnson on Supporting Stuttering Children
Dr Georgie Johnson recently completed her PhD in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology at the University of Melbourne. She joins the team to discuss developments in interventions in children who stutter. About 10% of children begin to stutter by 4 years of age making it as prevalent as asthma in Australia. This results in a daily struggle to communicate; unlike other visible disabilities, children can conceal their stuttering by being silent and withdrawing from daily life. By the time these children get access to clinical services, they are 6 times more likely to have a Social Anxiety Disorder than their peers. It is therefore crucial that effective interventions are available to young people who stutter to avoid a lifetime of mental health issues. Although there's currently a limited understanding of how to best help these children, it's now understood that it's necessary to not only target speech, but also mental health through enhancing community and social relationships, destigmatising stuttering, and drawing on a range of other approaches (such as integrating stuttering into one's identity).
![gj](https://cdn-images-w3.rrr.org.au/6xtziWeXjY-0V4pIYvFjVOv9uaA=/600x600/smart/https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/assets-w3.rrr.org.au/assets/c9a/d8f/29d/c9ad8f29dd2319b755aa50264923519bcfd5e919/georgie-599x1024-circle-a3356aa71d5fe006c8ce8f9ed11f7fb7-53vl9bu0hp81.jpg)