From: Phillip J. Roberts
Your Child Stutters
Your child sometimes repeats words or syllables and you are concerned that he might become a lifetime stutterer.
You shouldn't be overly worried: many young children stutter at one point or another and most of them outgrow stuttering. However some of these stuttering children don't spontaneously outgrow stuttering and need the help of their parents and in some cases the additional help of a Speech Language Pathologist.
Act now
If your child stutters, you should act now. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to eliminate his stuttering.
At the same time, it is essential that you avoid overreacting. You should at all costs avoid showing your child that you are concerned about his disfluencies. If you show concern, your child might become self-conscious and this could make his stuttering worse.
How can I help my child?
Children have a natural tendency to mimic their parents. By adequately altering your own behavior, you can positively influence your child's behavior and indirectly alter his speech patterns. This is called "indirect therapy". Indirect therapy is easy to implement and is described in detail in Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy.
If your child is aware of his stuttering, you can combine indirect therapy with a more direct therapeutic approach. In other words, you should talk with your child about his speech difficulties and help him improve his fluency in a more direct manner. This direct approach is also described in detail in Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy.
Speech Language Pathologist
If your child's stuttering is severe or if your child has been stuttering for more than a month, you should consider seeking the help of a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). It is extremely important that you avoid increasing the child’s awareness about his speech impediments. For this reason, you should first meet the Speech Language Pathologist without the child. During this first visit, make sure the therapist is comfortable and experienced in working with children and that he will be able to help your child without increasing the child's awareness about his stuttering. If you are not sure, try another SLP.
During a subsequent visit to the SLP, you will bring the child with you and the therapist will assess his disfluencies. If the SLP is skilled, he should be able to assess the disfluencies without making your child aware of what is going on.
The role of the parents is essential
Whatever therapeutic approach the therapist recommends, keep in mind that you will play a central role. Your child spends several hours a day with you and you have a major influence on your child. Even if you seek the help of a Speech Language Therapist, your role will remain essential and you will probably find the advice given in Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy very useful.
Understand your child's inner feelings
Comprehensive Stuttering Therapy is written in plain English and describes the complexity of stuttering in simple words. It will help you understand stuttering and will give you an insight to the inner feelings your child has about his speech difficulties. Understanding stuttering and your child's feelings will make it easier for you to effectively help your child to become fluent and successfully implement the therapeutic approaches mentioned above.
