Elcies
Stuttering & Cluttering
Our speech pathologists assist clients of all ages who need support with stuttering or cluttering.Â
We work with people experiencing these challenges to reach their full communication potential and our experience and comprehensive training allows us to provide evidence-based treatment tailored to people’s specific needs.Â
Stuttering and cluttering may be experienced concurrently.
What is Stuttering?
What is Cluttering?
Elcies
Medicare Access
From 1 March 2026, eligible individuals under 25 years can access Medicare-funded assessment and treatment for:
- Stuttering
- Fluency disorders (including cluttering)
- Speech sound disorders associated with complex needs
- Neurodevelopmental communication disorders
To be eligible you must:
- be under 25 years
- have complex communication needs impacting function
- be referred by a General Practitioner (GP) under Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorder & Disability items
What is Stuttering?
Stuttering occurs due to an interruption in speech production, and can involve the repetition of sounds or syllables, parts of words, whole words or phrases.
Stuttering is often experienced as a loss of control over speech.
It can lead to a negative communication attitude, which often has more impact on a person’s communication than the audible speech interruptions.
What is Cluttering?
Cluttering affects someone’s ability to convey messages clearly and concisely.
Individuals with cluttered speech often report that people have difficulty understanding them due to their speech sounding rapid, unclear and/or disorganised, as well as difficulties with the clarity of their speech, and/or the organisation or relevance of their message.
Stuttering and Cluttering
Frequently Asked Questions
What does therapy involve?
There are various programs to help with specific communication concerns at different ages. Your therapist will make suggestions regarding which options may suit you, and together you will decide on an approach that fits you best.
Preschool Children
For preschool children, therapy is usually delivered by parents at home with weekly or fortnightly clinic sessions for the speech pathologist to train the parents.
School Aged Children and AdolescentsÂ
Therapy for school-aged children and adolescents involves therapy sessions and home practice for both the child and the parent working on reducing the frequency or effort of stuttering and dealing with negative communications attitudes. Therapy sessions are often 2-3 weeks apart, giving time to practise and work around other commitments.
Adults
For adults, therapy depends on a client’s goals, which may include reducing how often they stutter or how much effort it takes to speak, increasing how easily they are understood by others or how positive they feel about speaking. Therapy will usually involve regular speech pathology sessions with home practice to complete between clinic visits.
How long will therapy take?
How long therapy will take is different for everyone, and depends on the challenges they are experiencing and their goals.
We usually book therapy sessions in 6-8 week blocks. Most therapy will require at least 2-3 of these blocks to be completed. Some clients will require more, some less.
What treatments are available?
There are various programs to help with specific communication concerns at different ages. Our team can provide the following stuttering treatments:
- The Lidcombe Program
- RESTART-DCM
- Palin Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
- Westmead Program
- The Camperdown Program
- Stutter Modification therapy
- Smooth Speech
- Avoidance Reduction Treatment for Stuttering (ARTS(R))
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Solution-focused Brief Therapy
Your therapist will make suggestions regarding which options may suit you, and together you will decide on an approach that fits you best.
Cost and payment information
From 1 March 2026, eligible individuals under 25 years can access Medicare-funded assessment and treatment for:
- Stuttering
- Fluency disorders (including cluttering)
- Speech sound disorders associated with complex needs
- Neurodevelopmental communication disorders
To be eligible you must:
- be under 25 years
- have complex communication needs impacting function
- be referred by a GP under Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorder & Disability items
Medicare Access
Eligible patients may receive:
- Up to 8 assessment services
- Up to 20 treatment sessions
(Medicare rebates apply; gap fees may apply)
To access Medicare funded assessments and sessions eligible individuals must be referred by a General Practitioner (GP).
Medicare Funded Assessments and Sessions
From 1 March 2026, eligible individuals under 25 years can access Medicare-funded assessment and treatment for:
- Stuttering
- Fluency disorders (including cluttering)
- Speech sound disorders associated with complex needs
- Neurodevelopmental communication disorders
To be eligible you must:
- be under 25 years
- have complex communication needs impacting function
- be referred by a General Practitioner (GP) under Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorder & Disability items
For more information click here or speak with your GP.
Lutheran Community Care Incorporated – Trading as Elcies
ABN 26 735 070 692
