Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP 350: Redefining Fluency Through Neurodiversity And Self-Advocacy

• Sophia Yvette

Share episode

What Makes Laura Overton with Beck Speech Clinic a Good Neighbor?

What if fluency isn’t the finish line—and the real win is speaking with ease, pride, and presence? We sit down with Laura Overton, stuttering specialist and owner of Beck Speech Clinic, to rethink how stuttering therapy works, why bilingual disfluencies are often misread, and how to create conversations that feel safe and empowering. Laura shares her journey from school-based speech pathology to earning a board-certified specialty, then building a flexible model that brings evaluations to local homes in DFW and ongoing teletherapy to clients in Oklahoma, California, and Colorado.

Together, we unpack what stuttering actually is—knowing exactly what you want to say and hitting a momentary block—and how that differs from word searching in multilingual speakers. Laura offers clear, practical guidance for parents of preschoolers who stutter, explains why many kids recover, and outlines risk factors for persistence beyond age seven. She also reveals what stuttering-affirming therapy looks like in real life: scripting self-advocacy, practicing voluntary stuttering to reduce fear, and teaching listeners to focus on content rather than the delivery. The message is simple and powerful: fluent or not, your voice matters.

We also explore access to specialized care, from referrals and word-of-mouth demand to licensing across states that lack stuttering experts. Framed by the neurodiversity movement, Laura’s approach centers acceptance without giving up on progress—aiming for joyful, effective communication at school, work, and home. If you’ve wondered whether stuttering can be “cured,” how to respond respectfully when someone blocks, or how to support a bilingual child, this conversation brings nuance, compassion, and real-world tools you can use today.

To learn more about Beck Speech Clinic, go to:

👉 https://beckspeechclinic.com


Beck Speech Clinic – Laura Overton, M.S., CCC-SLP, BCS-F
📞 (214) 308-2188

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of an after hours clinic? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Laura Overton with Beck Speech Clinic. Laura, how are you today?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm great. How are you?

SPEAKER_02:

I'm also great. Now we are excited to learn all about you and your business. Can you start off by telling us just a little bit about your company?

SPEAKER_01:

So my company is a speech clinic. I specialize in stuttering. I have a board certified specialty in stuttering. So I work just all over DFW, and primarily I go to people's houses and do the evaluations, and then I see the clients online after that.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow, Laura, so many questions for you, but let's go ahead and start with this one. How did you get into this business?

SPEAKER_01:

So I got interested in speech pathology when my grandmother had a stroke, actually. So they were working on helping her relearn to talk and relearn to swallow. And then from there, I got my speech pathology degree and started working primarily in the schools. And then I had a very, very tricky stuttering case and was seeking more information. And then I just caught the bug and just loved working with stuttering clients. And so that's what I do.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow. So it really is your heart that keeps you in this industry, it sounds like.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's kind of the big misconception.

SPEAKER_02:

I have another question for you. What about people who speak multiple languages and you know they go from like say like Spanish to English, right? Can that be where stuttering occurs too? Because you use your tongue in different ways when you speak different languages.

SPEAKER_01:

So that one I would say is absolutely people who are bilingual or trilingual, however many languages they have, absolutely are people who stutter, but it's a trickier diagnosis because there are more word retrieval issues that you have to account for that are just a normal part of being bilingual, right? You're searching for the word that you know best in one language and you're searching for it in another language. And so you might repeat a sound, but that's not actually stuttering. Because again, remember I said stuttering is when you know what you want to say, but it doesn't come out.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. I think I'm understanding a little bit more. So you're teaching me something today, too.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. I love I just love talking about stuttering.

SPEAKER_02:

Now we know marketing is the heart of every business. Who are your target clients or your target audience? And in terms of marketing, I know we touched on this a bit. How do you attract them?

SPEAKER_01:

So basically, um, the stuttering specialists um in DFW are often full. And so when I became a stuttering specialist, I kind of became part of that group. And so they referred to me early, and then it's word of mouth. The clients say, hey, this really helped, and they refer to other people. I'm also licensed in um Oklahoma, California, and Colorado and see clients there as well. So, you know, half of my clientele kind of came from Oklahoma because when I started in Oklahoma, they did not have a stuttering specialist, and that's kind of why I got licensed there so that there would be options for people.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, have you ever thought of having your own branded podcast before? I have not, no. Outside of work, what do you and your family like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01:

So I have a lot of hobbies. Um, I definitely enjoy work-life balance hobbies. So meditation, yoga, crochet um are all kind of relaxing hobbies, but then I also enjoy paddle boarding and I play bass guitar, so just a big range.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow, paddleboarding is such an interesting one. How did you get into that?

SPEAKER_01:

So my husband is a bit of a thrill seeker, so he was interested in it. So we got our paddleboard before anybody knew what they were in DFW. So we'd be driving in DFW and people would be like, Why do you have that surfboard on top of your car? Um, and it's just fun. I I try almost everything new that comes up that somebody puts in front of me. Some of it sticks, some of it doesn't.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, Laura, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about Beck Speech Clinic that stands out from other speech therapy clinics.

SPEAKER_01:

It really is going to be about stuttering affirming therapy for me. So really it's about learning to stutter in your life in a way that works for you so that you can communicate joyfully.

SPEAKER_02:

Care to elaborate on that?

SPEAKER_01:

So it can be very difficult for people who stutter to jump into a conversation knowing that they might stutter. Um, so learning how to talk to people about your stuttering to take the anxiety away from that is very important for people who stutter and letting people know how they should react. And if you're wondering how you should react, all you have to really do is listen to what somebody who stutters is saying and not worry about the way it's being delivered.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, Laura, what our listeners really want to know today is where can they go to learn more about Beck Speech Clinic?

SPEAKER_01:

So you can go to Beckspeechclinic.com or you can email me at Laura.com.

SPEAKER_02:

Laura, one final question for you today. How does a stutter happen? And is it ever something that's truly curable, I guess I would say?

SPEAKER_01:

So I don't know that I would say curable, um, but I would say that it does go away for a lot of young people, right? So in the under-six range. Um, and a speech pathologist can kind of help you know whether your preschool child who stutters um needs to have therapy or not, but because we don't really, we know a lot about persistence, like will it persist, will it not persist? We don't really know why it goes away entirely, but we know sometimes there are things that can help your child at that time and can help your child if it does persist. If it goes much past seven, um, it is probably going to be something lifelong, but it doesn't have to be something that holds you back.

SPEAKER_02:

Most definitely. And one final observation today. I know language is always like an ever-evolving thing. What makes stuttering as an issue something that stands out so much?

SPEAKER_01:

I think what makes stuttering such an issue right now is that we're going to a whole neurodiversity movement in the world, hopefully. Um, certainly in the United States. So really accepting people for who they are and what they're bringing as the person that they are. The movement started a lot with autism, but the stuttering community has really picked up on it and said, yes, I'm a person who stutters. You're gonna hear me stutter. It is normal for people who stutter to stutter when they talk.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, Laura, I really appreciate you being on the show today. We wish you and your business the best moving forward. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Frisco dot com. That's GNP Frisco dot com or call four six nine two two two two two two two two two two two two one nine three four five.