stammer in 8 year old

[lingle]

DS1 stammers when trying to say something complex. It happens at home if he is trying to talk about something like science, and at school if he is trying to explain something complicated in class.

The teacher raised it at parents' evening because she said it was becoming more noticeable.

he has a very good social position at school. it's perhaps because of this that (according to teacher) no one has yet sniggered or even blinked when he stammers.

neither we nor the teacher has ever yet mentioned the stammer.

I told the teacher I would research it but my instinct was to do nothing.

An alternative would be to talk about it in a "it's not an issue" way like saying "you know how sometimes you can't get the ideas out and the words get stuck for a bit?". But you have to watch your moment and be so careful to say something like that.....

any thoughts/experiences welcome.

my sister has had two children with speaking issues. she took them both to a speech therapist. one had a bad stammer, but after some work it's completely gone now. the other actually turned out to be just a ''phase'' thing, Both were under the age of 5 when they had their issues, so i don't have any personal experience to share with you.

my advice would be to take him to a speech therapist for a simple evaluation. could easily be nothing, but if it is something, it will only get worse. sorry to use an old cliche, but better to be safe than sorry. hope that helps!

Hi, I am a mum and an independent speech and language therapist. It's a tricky one, but in general the advice we give is to be open with your son and talk about it, particularly if he shows signs of frustration during the stammer, in terms that he can understand such as 'that was a bit bumpy, I know that was hard for you to say, but don't worry it will get easier as you get older', that sort of thing.

As an 8 year old he is more than likely well aware of his difficulties when he stammers, but may be internalising them. The more you talk to him about it when it is happening and reassure him, the less he will internalise negative feelings towards the stammer.

I would heavily recommend going to see a speech and language therapist as soon as possible to find out whether it is a stammer that he has, and if it is to make sure that both yourselves and school have the correct advice on how to support your son, you can self refer to your local NHS service, just phone them up and they should prioritise your son (stammering is usually a priority area within SLT).

I hope this helps.

Eleanor Harris

thank you. I will go to their drop in clinic in April

Hi, just asking how things turned out. Experiencing something similar. X