Stutter/stammer in kids

carlowmedic

I would appreciate advice from some experts. 3 year old with a mild to moderate stammer good days some consonants bad day most consonants with facial contortion. No real change in the pattern in the last year but school is looming. We have been to speech therapy but not convinced . Any advice for us. Mum and Dad speak normally if with nordie accents.

sadie9

Hi, it's really important to get the right treatment specially if your child is aware they are stammering. Most important, never draw attention to the way the child is speaking. Repeat back part of what they have said so they know you are paying attention to the CONTENT not how it's said. Never ever say 'slow down' or 'think about what you want to say' that makes it worse. Keep your facial expression interested and do not reflect the distress back to the child. Research a therapy called the Lidcombe Programme, you'll find it on the internet. Also there are good tips on this page link http://www.stutteringhelp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=38
Therapy for this age group centres around not 'fixing' the actual speech but in giving the child time and making sure the child knows he's loved for being themselves and not for how they speak. And teaching the parents how to behave towards the stammering child. Given the right treatment you should see an improvement in your child's speech but it can take a few months to come right. I am an adult stammerer myself. So the speech therapist will not be tackling the actual speech, and doing speech exercises or anything for this age group.

SimpleSam06

Well you should know, at this point there is no "cure" for stammering. I have had a stammer since an early age so I can give you the perspective I have on the issue. The speech therapists I attended were not only no good, they were counterproductive, your mileage may vary. There are a variety of paid for courses and so on out there as well, but the only thing you are guaranteed out of them is a bill.

I learned to deal with it by ignoring it completely, to the extent that it no longer exists in my mind. Its very difficult to reach that state, but it has been 99% effective in my experience - I focus on what I am trying to achieve by speaking, rather than the fact that I am speaking. In my opinion the mind knows what it is doing, playing a game in effect, and if you change the rules your mind shifts tack as well. The only way to win is to not play.

Be supportive, understand that it means that your child will have a harder time in school than others because of it, but always emphasise that it should not in any situation hold back your child. There is nothing wrong with stammerers mentally or physically (quite the opposite, they usually have more active and imaginative minds), just the psychology is laid out a bit differently.

Mr. CooL ICE

Same boat as SimpleSam here. As with him, my parents found that speech therapy was making me worse, and I ignored the fact that I had a stammer until I realised it was as good as gone (full story here), but it doesn't happen to everyone and I seem to be one of the lucky ones.

I would recommend having a discussion with the child's teacher until you feel comfortable that they understand the situation enough to be able to care for the child and are aware of all the aspects outlined by sadie9.

batalos

It's quite common for children to experience a period of 'developmental disfluency' as they learn the mechanics of speaking. Most children tend to pass through this stage by around the age of seven or so and will not development a permanent speech disorder. I wouldn't worry too much but it probably is a good idea to continue to consult a speech therapist. Resources in this area have improved since the time I was a kid and are concentated on treating children. The main thing is not to get too worried and support your child especially if they begin to notice any disfluency and become upset by it.

mazr

Im in the same boat as you carlowmedic, my three year old also has a mild stammer. It goes away for ages and then seems to come back overnight. Im not too concerened at the moment as his brain is still growing and when you think about it they arent talking that long anyway. Give it time, you are doing all the right things. I hope all goes well for you and your child.

raemie21

Advice from Sadie is spot on.
Lots of children experience periods of 'non-fluency' - best is to be reassuring, focus on what he/she is saying and yeah try to ignore the stammering as best you can.
Research has shown that many children who present with non-fluency/if classified as 'stammer' at ages 2-5 will not present as such in later years. Not that they're 'cured' as such, but they will have no obvious signs unless during times of stress, nerves etc.
Try not to worry about it too much as your child will pick up on your feelings, no matter how hard you try disguise them.

Stephen P

raemie21 wrote: »

Advice from Sadie is spot on.
Lots of children experience periods of 'non-fluency' - best is to be reassuring, focus on what he/she is saying and yeah try to ignore the stammering as best you can.
Research has shown that many children who present with non-fluency/if classified as 'stammer' at ages 2-5 will not present as such in later years. Not that they're 'cured' as such, but they will have no obvious signs unless during times of stress, nerves etc.
Try not to worry about it too much as your child will pick up on your feelings, no matter how hard you try disguise them.

Good point but if I was in this situation I wouldn't ignore the stammering however mild or severe it is. Ignoring it could cause more problems down the road. When the child stammers deal with it the best you can, at the same time don't make a huge deal of it because the child will pick up on this.

raemie21

Sorry, didn't mean strictly 'ignore' - just monitor without making a big deal, yeah.