Quiz: "Are You Ready for Treatment?"

How much does stuttering affect your life in different areas? If your stuttering is affecting you, treatment might help you learn to speak fluently. For a guide on whether it's time to think about treatment, take this quiz!

Use your mouse to click the boxes that best describe you. To change your answer, click the box again.

The best time for you to start treatment is when you decide the time is right. The time may be now, or in the future when something may prompt you to have treatment, for example, starting a job.

You can check out treatment options and treatment contacts in Australia.

The Speech Pathologist

The person who treats stuttering is the Speech Pathologist. Speech Pathologists are the only professionals who have been trained to work with people who stutter. Treatment works directly on the stuttering and aims to reduce or stop it.

In most cases, you don't need a referral from a doctor or school; you can contact a Speech Pathologist yourself. If you are in Australia, you (or your parent/carer) can find a Speech Pathologist near you in any of these ways:

• Phone the local Community Health Centre and ask about local Speech Pathologists
• Ask the doctor
• Ask at school. The principal or your co-ordinator will help you with contact details for a Speech Pathologist
• Speech Pathologists in private practice are usually listed in the Yellow Pages (or can be searched online through http://www.yellowpages.com.au)
• Visit Speech Pathology Australia http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
  and follow the links to find a Speech Pathologist
• As a starting point, you can check out our contacts for Speech Pathologists in this website

If you are a teenager, you've probably realised that your stuttering is not likely to go away. Thinking that it might go away in the future is not going to help you right now. Think about how much your stuttering affects what you do:

• Do you avoid social situations?
• Does your stuttering have an impact on your schoolwork?
• Does your stuttering prevent you doing anything at all?
• Does your stuttering make you feel sad or upset?

If you answered "YES" to any of these questions contact your nearest Speech Pathologist.