If your child has difficulty speaking and tends to hestitate on or repeat syllables, words, or phrases- he may have a stuttering problem.  However, he may also be going through periods of “normal” dysfluency that most children experience as they learn to speak.  Dysfluencies occur most often between 1.5 and 5 years of age and they tend to come and go.  Signs of an actual fluency disorder include the following:

• Dysfluencies are accompanied by tension and struggle behavior (ie facial grimaces or eye blinking).
• The pitch of the voice may rise or the child will experience silent “blocks” (no sound comes out.)
• Dysfluencies may still come and go but are more present than absent.
• Your child is repeating words more than twice (ie “what..what..what”)

What you can do:

• Try and model slow and relaxed speech when speaking with your child.
• When your child asks you a question, try to pause a second or so before you answer. This will help your child to be less hurried and more relaxed when speaking.
• Try not to be upset or annoyed when stuttering occurs.
• If your child is frustrated or upset when stuttering occurs, reassure him.  Some children respond well to hearing “I know it’s hard to talk at times…but lots of people get stuck on words.  It’s ok.”

 

If you are concerned about  your child’s stuttering and would like assistance, be sure to contact an ASHA Certified speech-language pathologist (www.ASHA.org) for an evaluation.