| Many children go through normal periods of | | | | 2. Tension in the body or around the mouth. |
| disfluency around ages 2-4. This usually occurs | | | | 3. Getting "stuck" on words, blocking |
| during periods of rapid vocabulary acquisition. | | | | 4. Frustration with or avoidance of speech |
| Children typically repeat words and syllables, | | | | If you see any of these speech behaviors, it is |
| especially when excited or talking rapidly. In some | | | | much less likely that your child will outgrow his |
| children, this normal developmental disfluency | | | | disfluencies without speech therapy. |
| develops into true stuttering, which can be a | | | | What Can I Do? |
| lifelong struggle. The trick for speech pathologists | | | | Whether your child is actually stuttering, may be |
| is to identify which children would benefit from | | | | beginning to stutter, or is experiencing normal |
| therapy in order to "cure" or minimize the | | | | disfluencies, there are some things that you can |
| problem early. Almost all stutterers begin | | | | do to help. |
| stuttering before the age of five and it is very | | | | 1. Avoid showing and frustration or impatience |
| important to begin therapy early to remediate the | | | | with your child's speech. |
| problem. | | | | 2. Try to minimize stressful speaking situations for |
| We are all disfluent at times. We may repeat | | | | your child. |
| words, say, "uh" when trying to gather our | | | | 3. Do not react negatively to your child's speech |
| thoughts, or we may prolong a sound while | | | | or label it as "stuttering." |
| beginning a word. These disfluencies can be more | | | | 4. Don't tell your child to "slow down." Instead, |
| prevalent in preschoolers. | | | | model relaxed, slower speech yourself. Speak |
| Some examples of normal disfluencies are: | | | | slowly, especially easing slowly into the first word |
| 1. repeating whole words | | | | of a sentence. |
| 2. repeating syllables | | | | If you have concerns, please consult a speech |
| 3. prolonging the first sound of a word | | | | pathologist who can ease your mind, give you |
| If these speech behaviors are not excessive and | | | | suggestions, or suggest speech therapy if needed. |
| do not last for more than a few months, there is | | | | A wonderful source of information about |
| probably not much cause for concern. If they are | | | | stuttering is the Stuttering Foundation of America. |
| long-lasting or interfere significantly with | | | | This non-profit organization produces free and |
| communication or are causing the child frustration, | | | | inexpensive resources for speech-pathologists, |
| however, a speech evaluation would be advisable. | | | | parents, and children for the prevention and |
| Some examples of abnormal disfluencies are: | | | | improved treatment of stuttering. I highly |
| 1. Use of the schwa vowel in repetitions (bu-bu-bu | | | | recommend this resource. |
| bat instead of ba-ba-ba-bat) | | | | |