My Child Has a Stutter: What Can I Do?
Developmental stuttering is a speech fluency disorder characterized by involuntary breaks or disruptions in speech, called disfluencies.
For most people, the presence of hesitations in speech is fairly normal. However, developmental stuttering is present in about 5% of the population for whom the disruptions are greater and more frequent.
There is no consensus on the exact cause of stuttering, but scientific research is leaning towards a neurological origin and suggests that there is a significant genetic component. Stuttering generally develops in the preschool years, between 2 and 4 years of age, and about 80% of children stop stuttering within five years of onset.
What Does Stuttering Sound Like?
Stuttering can appear gradually or suddenly. It appears in some very typical ways:
- Repetition of a word that contains only one syllable (I want my-my-my-my teddy)
- Repetition of a part of a word (I want my ted-ed-ed-ed-eddy)
- Blocking (I —want my teddy)
- Stretching a sound (I wwwwww-want my teddy)
With more severe stuttering, hesitations may sometimes be accompanied by physical behaviours such as facial tics or head or arm movements.
Treatment
Currently, the preferred treatment for stuttering is early treatment by a speech-language pathologist. Stuttering that appears at 4–5 years of age or later should be treated quickly, since late-onset stuttering is often associated with increased persistence, awareness of difficulties and emotional response. When stuttering appears before the age of 4, a speech-language pathologist can help you determine when help is needed by asking some questions:
- When did the stuttering appear?
- Is there a family history of stuttering?
- Does the child exhibit associated physical behaviours?
- Does the child have any emotional reactions to their stuttering?
Depending on the analysis of these factors, the speech-language pathologist may recommend that you take action quickly or continue to monitor the evolution of speech fluency.
Consulting a Speech-Language Pathologist
Consulting a speech-language pathologist will help you identify the best treatment approach for your child. Until you have all the answers to your questions, here are some tips to help you better respond to your child’s stuttering:
- Show the child that you value the message they’re trying to share more than how they’re sharing it. Tell them that you appreciate their ideas and that you want them to share those ideas with you.
- Make the child feel that their hesitations do not irritate you. Be aware of how you react; avoid facial expressions and stay calm.
- Minimize corrections, criticisms, interruptions and questions.
- Listen for longer.
- Make sure that the child has enough time to express his or her ideas.
- Avoid interrupting or talking over the child. Let them finish their sentence.
- Avoid suggestions such as “Take a breath” or “Slow down”.
- Do not put the child on the spot, for example by asking several quick questions in a row.
- Do not suggest that the child avoid saying words that tend to cause stuttering.
- Avoid competition for speech at home. As a family, insist on the importance of respecting when others are speaking. Everyone must feel that they will have their turn to speak and that others will listen without interrupting.
Feel free to contact a speech-language pathologist for more information and answers to your questions.