Tell me about your child who stutters

[Kiwiinkits]

DD1 has just developed a stutter. She is almost 3 and prior to this was very verbal: a very early talker, full sentences by 15 months, lots of language and expression. She is very bright (I think). And very social. Her stutter has come on relatively quickly in the last couple of months (and has been diagnosed by a speech and language therapist - it's not a case of the more common toddler's-head-thinking-faster-than-her-tongue). It's inherited: both her grandfathers have stutters and one of her aunts does too. Basically I'm worried because it has REALLY knocked her confidence. She seems to have gone from a very bright, sociable, get-amongst it kid to one who stands on the side. She used to really like music sessions and kindergarten and now doesn't seem to anymore .
What I need is some reasurrance. I'm worried that my little stutterer will go into herself as a way to cope with it. She's naturally very gregarious and it really hurts me to see that she's struggling to interact with others . She loves language and reading and singing and everything verbal. How did your stutterer get along as she/he got older? What phases of their life were difficult/easy? What did you do to ease their journey?

Stuttering can be caused by stress as well as trying to talk too quickly or being very tired.

It should be addressed as if you leave it, then it is unlikely to go on its own. When she stutters, repeat the sentence and she will easily after you. Refer to it as bumpy talking.

If she is aware she is doing it and it annoys her- my ds was like this- they will self correct by repeating the whole sentence as you do as above. You could talk to a friendly speech therapist who will advise over the phone ( mine did as she said it was very common and could be dealt with easily.

Anyone who spends time with her should also be aware of how to handle it. Nursery might not have noticed as they tend to ask yes/ no questions depending on the amount of children they have.

Ill have a look for the cheat sheet the therapist gave me, hints and tips on dealing with a temporary stutter, but I'm not sure if threw it out after ds stopped.

My DD also developed a stammer at about 3. It was heartbreaking. We got a lot of support from her speech therapist who we saw for about 2-3 years. Nobody else would notice it now, but she has times her speech is less fluent, but we have good techniques to cope with it. Push for regular speech therapy, emphasise the impact is having on her. Good luck!

Please don't ignore this, I know it was many years ago but my husband was called lazy when he was a child for stuttering and it was never addressed, he had to work out his own ways to deal with it and had speech therapy as an adult but still stutters a lot when he is stressed now, he really resents his parents attitude. If your child had a tendency to stammer for whatever reason, I would get it sorted while she is still very young and learning to speak, apparently it is all about the breathing! Good luck.

My ds suddenly developed a stutter at about 5.5 I was told it can be developmental almost as if he was thinking faster than he could verbalise.
Over a few months it steadily improved without any intervention, I just reminded him to slow down and gather his thoughts if he was getting repeatedly stuck and frusterated.
He is now nearly 7 and has no noticable stutter. I think overall it lasted for about 8-9 months

Thank you everyone. Lavender that is a good phrase, bumpy talking. That will appeal to her. And repeating the whole sentence is a good tip too. I definitely notice that it's worse when she's tired.

Have a chat with her and say do you know when you do bumpy talking? Shall I help you stop doing that? My ds actively wanted to stop, at 3, and used to say mmmm ( mummy) and then interrupt himself with " oops bumpy talking" and then I would say mummy, can I have a - and he just added the end word.

No stress, no making him repeat the stutter word, and it did go. Ensure any adults round her support you, and do discuss with a speech therapist. My ds didn't even meet her, she just advised over the phone and said come back if it didnt go, as I caught it early enough and ds was lucky enough it went.

I stutter when very upset, its awful not to get words out!

Lidcombe speech therapy is specifically for stuttering. Best results are achieved in children younger than 7. Not sure if its available on the NHS, we found and paid for a private speech therapist who specialised in Lidcombe. We got amazing results from this therapy. Try googling. HTH

My dd2 had Lidcombe therapy, with an nhs SALT, it was very effective with her.

Thanks Poptart, I have googled and it sounds good. Looks like I'd better start searching for a therapist. Is nearly 3 too young? I dont' want to put pressure on her or make this into a "big deal" IYSWIM?

My DS developed a stutter at around 3 years old as well. It went away after only about 3 weeks. Apparently this is not uncommon at all.

I think Lavenderhoney's advice is very good, so that there is absolutely no pressure or big issue about it.

I hope, like with my DS, it goes away as quickly as it came.