In this episode of SLP Coffee Talk, Hallie chats with Victoria Dertouzos—SLP and founder of Speech and Stuttering Therapy of New Jersey—about why stuttering therapy looks so different than it used to, and why that’s a good thing. Victoria breaks down what a modern, neurodiversity-affirming approach to stuttering actually looks like in practice, how to assess what you’ve been missing, and what to say to students who’ve never felt heard in a therapy room. If stuttering therapy isn’t your jam, this one’s for you.
Bullet Points to Discuss:
Why fluency-chasing has let down generations of people who stutter—and what to do instead
What covert stuttering is and why your assessment might be missing it
How secondary behaviors develop—and why they’re not actually part of the stutter
What to ask a student who stutters before anything else
How to handle teachers and parents who just want it “fixed”
What a neurodiversity-affirming stuttering session actually looks like
Here’s what we learned:
You can reduce the struggle around stuttering—but you can’t remove the stutter itself.
If you’re only counting disfluencies, you’re missing the whole picture.
A student who seems fine might be switching words, skipping answers, and falling behind without anyone noticing.
Say “stuttering”—not “bumpy speech.” Normalizing the word helps normalize the experience.
Ask the student what they think before you ask what they do. That’s where therapy actually starts.
Subscribe today and get access to my secret podcast filled with my juicy secrets for planning with ease for secondary speech students. 6 quick episodes that you can quickly listen to and feel refreshed and inspired! https://speechtimefun.com/secondarysecrets
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