Watching a child learn to speak is one of the many joys parents have as
their children grow. But if you notice your child has trouble talking,
you can naturally become concerned: Is the child stuttering? Should you
do anything about it?
First, relax. Children between the ages of two and five commonly
experience periods of stuttering. And boys are three times more likely
to stutter than girls.
"No one knows for sure what causes stuttering," says Dr. Cynthia
Jacobsen, director of Hearing and Speech at Children’s Mercy
Hospitals and Clinics. "But that doesn’t mean there’s no hope. There’s
a lot you can
do to help your child from becoming a life-long stutterer."
During speech development, many children display disfluency, which is
speaking with hesitations, interruptions or disruptions. Some
disfluency is of more concern that others.
Normal disfluencies include the effortless repetition of whole words (
I-I-I want.) and phrases (You can’t ... You can’t ... You can’t do
that.) They also include the use of such fillers as "um" and "uh."
Disfluencies that are more likely to indicate a child is at risk for
stuttering include struggling with sound repetitions (p-p-p-park),
syllable repetitions (mu-mu-mu-music), sound prolongation (sssstory)
and pauses within words (base ... ball).
Even given these descriptions, it’s difficult for a parent to know if
the child is stuttering. That’s why it is important to talk to your
pediatrician or other health care expert, like those in the Hearing and
Speech Clinic at Children’s Mercy, if you are concerned. It’s best to
investigate these matters before the stuttering becomes ingrained.
Jacobsen says normal disfluency occurs in a child 2 to 5 years of
age when the child is tired, excited or talking about complex matters.
Most children occasionally prolong and repeat sounds.
If you see the following warning signs, then talk to your pediatrician
about a visit to a speech-language pathologist:
- Tremors: Trembling or vibration of the muscles around the child’s
mouth.
- A rise in pitch or sliding up and down in loudness trying to get
the stuck word unstuck.
- Tension in the lips, throat or chest. A struggle to speak.
- Moments of fear, crying or a fearful face.
- Avoidance of speaking.
If it is determined your child does stutter, it’s important not to
become so overwhelmed by the speech that you forget the speaker. You
want your child to know that it’s what they say that’s important, not
how they say it.
"Don’t be afraid to talk about it," Jacobsen said. "You child knows he
stutters. Don’t let him think something is terribly wrong. And don’t
harp on it."
The following are suggestions from the Stuttering Foundation of America:
- Listen patiently to what the child has to say.
- Allow the child to complete his thoughts without your
interruptions.
- Keep natural eye contact while your child is talking.
- After your child speaks, reply slowly, using some of the same
words.
- Wait a second or so before responding to your child. This helps to
calm him and slow things down.
- Spend at least five minutes each day devoted to talking with your
child in an unhurried, relaxed manner.
