If you're a parent of a child who stutters, please take the time to read the following information.

Children who stutter know what they want to say, but have difficulty in getting words out. Disfluency occurs most often between the ages of one to five years and may occur in cycles in the early years. In this resource section early stuttering refers to stuttering in pre-school children. Stuttering may come and go. You may notice your child is fluent for several days or weeks and then speaking becomes difficult again.

Early intervention by a speech pathologist has proven effective and is recommended. Do not delay treatment hoping your child may grow out of it. The aim of early intervention is to prevent the stresses that chronic stuttering can cause, which includes poor social adjustment, anxiety and fear of speaking.

Treatment for young children is usually enjoyable and a very positive experience. Most treatment involves parent participation, with parents learning what they can do to help their children change their speech. Treatment of children is usually much quicker than treatment for adults. Parents are urged to seek advice as soon as they become concerned, as much can be done in a very short time.
Do not accept the advice that it is best to ignore stuttering because your child will grow out of it. This is not the case for many children and professional advice from a speech pathologist should be sought.

 

Putting in extra effort when talking

Cannot seem to get started and no sounds come out for several seconds ( ..I want a drink)

Frequent hesitations and difficulty getting words or sounds out

Repeating parts of words several times (mu-mu-mu-mu-mummy)

Breathlessness in mid-sentence

Stretching out sounds for more than a second or so (liiiiiike this)

Stops talking half way through a sentence

Beginning, then stopping and restarting a sentence with gaps or silences between

Signs of anxiety or fear when trying to speak

Awareness of being different, shying away from talkin

 

Encourage your child to speak, and listen to what he or she has to say. If your child is frustrated or upset provide reassurance.

Seek help immediately if he is becoming frustrated or distressed by his stuttering.

Contact your local speech pathologist for more information about treatment through your nearest child health centre, or speak with your child health nurse, pre-school teacher or General Practitioner (GP)

 

Teenagers who stutter will often not want to talk about its effect on their school or social life

They will hide their anxiety, stress, despair and any difficulties associated with stuttering. As a result, parents may be unaware of the full impact stuttering is having on their child

It is important to support teenagers who stutter in terms of their full psychological and physical well being

Often teenagers may not respond well to speech therapy. They are at an age where they don t want to be told they have a problem or that they should seek therapy

Therapy with teenagers becomes far more effective when they themselves ask for therapy or ask for help. This often does not occur until late teens or early twenties