| Stuttering toddlers often have their parents | | | | - Rising pitch and/or loudness as the child 'hangs' |
| gravely overconcerned. They wonder about | | | | on a word or syllable. |
| whether they are doing anything wrong and how | | | | Note that observing these traits does not |
| to counteract the verbal influency. Fact is, that a | | | | necessarily imply your toddler will stutter for a |
| certain degree of stuttering in toddlers is | | | | lifetime. Remember that many cases of stuttering |
| completely natural. As the young brain is fed with | | | | simply resolve themselves with age. |
| an overload of new information every day, the | | | | What to and not to do |
| child becomes more and more confident of itself | | | | If your child stutters, remember to always try |
| and its abilities. There are however times when | | | | and keep stress levels to a minimum. Address |
| the child will be simply asking too much, causing | | | | your child in a calm manner and create an |
| the already extremely busy brain to hamper. | | | | ambience of smooth, calm conversation. Make |
| During the time when a child is developing linguistic | | | | sure your child keeps exercising by keeping |
| and speech skills, a child will often challenge itself in | | | | speech fun: make up rhymes, songs and games |
| trying new sentences or words. As the brain is | | | | involving speech. Also, you should always allow |
| not always able to supply these words | | | | your child to express his or her thoughts. Make |
| instantaneously, speech starts to hamper as your | | | | sure you give them your undivided attention and |
| child is searching for words. To put it shortly, the | | | | convey to them that you're listening to what your |
| brain is out of sync with the muscles and nerves | | | | child has to say, not how he or she says it. |
| that control speech. This type of stuttering is | | | | There are some things you will want to avoid at |
| completely benign and will usually fade away as | | | | all costs. First of all, never-ever complete a |
| the child ages. | | | | stutterer's sentences, even when you know what |
| When to be concerned | | | | he or she is about to say. Also, never-ever |
| Unfortunately, not all stuttering patterns go away. | | | | attempt to force your child to stop stuttering by |
| Should you notice any of the following behavioral | | | | asking him or her to repeat the sentence "without |
| or speech patterns in a toddler, it would be wise | | | | stuttering this time". This will not work, is |
| to investigate the matter further with a speech | | | | humiliating and will severely hurt self-esteem. For |
| therapist: | | | | much the same reason, you have to make sure |
| - Excessive prolongation of sounds ("ccccccan I | | | | you never seem disappointed or annoyed by the |
| have wwwwwater?"). | | | | stuttering. |
| - Syllabile repetition ("can I have | | | | Stuttering treatment |
| wa-wa-wa-water?"). | | | | Toddlers who show signs of intermediate to |
| - Substitution of a weak vowel for a stronger one | | | | severe speech disfluency, need to be evaluated |
| in syllable repetitions ("can I have | | | | by a speech therapist. Since the exact origin of |
| wuh-wuh-wuh-water?") | | | | stuttering is not yet understood, a cure is not |
| - Signs of extreme struggle and tension when | | | | available as of yet. Most cases of stuttering can |
| your child is trying to speak. | | | | however be treated to some degree by |
| - Avoidance of speaking due to the difficulty | | | | behavioral and/or speech therapy. Many methods |
| associated. | | | | are available, some better than others. |