Bad stammer and other issues.

[tanfastic]

Hi there I posted this in behaviour/development but got no replies so was advised to post over here.

My 4.3 year old son has had a stammer on and off since he was two. I've never been that worried about it because i've heard it's very common with this age group. It arrives, stays for a few weeks and then buggers off again for a few months.

However this time round he's had it for longer...at least a few months now and it's worse than ever. He's really struggling to get his words out. The last week we've also noticed he's doing thrusting movements with his arm when a word is stuck and also smacking his hands together, smacking the side of his head before he says something and clenching his teeth and shouting until the word comes out. It's almost like he can't control it and i'm wondering if it's Tourettes type symptoms.

He has an assessment at Speech and Language Therapy on Thursday but i'm really worried.

He also has anger problems which we are trying to get a referral to CAHMS about through the health visitor which I think could be connected. He is a very complex little boy.

I feel so sorry for him.

Anyone got any experience of this or any words of wisdom?

I found this useful.

www.stammeringcentre.org/children-who-stammer

The tricky part (or one of them!) is figuring out whether the other behaviours relate to the communication difficulties or are signs of something else. It sounds as if you are covering all bases those with the SALT and CAMHs appointments (although it also depends on whether the SALT has expertise in this kind of speech problem).

just an idea, i thought my son was stuttering, if i asked him a question like what do you want for dinner (the answere is always bloodey pasta) he would go 'pa pa pa pa' for sometimes a few minutes, but if i would say 'do you want pasta or pizza, he would say pasta, not clearly but with no stuttering. also i feel if he sees the object, heard me say it, or seen a sign for it, he would try to say it better than having to say it with no prompt. the salt said she felt it was more a word finding and processing problem. as your ds is not doing it continuously, do you feel it could be another problem? i ended up taping him on my phone to show the salt. good luck thursday, our salt was excellent. lets hope you get a good one. if it is stuttering, alot can be put in place for children now to help them.

Hi again tanfastic, it was me who suggested you come over here.

I dont know anything about stammers, sorry but welcome to the board anyway

ds has a stammer it used to be really really bad he couldnt say anything without long drawn out stammering and flailing about, he used to have awful tantrums and angry outburts he had a years speech therapy once per week hes 6 now and its so much better still crops up with the odd word and shows when he is over excited or overstimulated but alot better than it was

Thank you for the replies, really appreciated and for the welcome Ineedalife :)

Latterlov3r that is really helpful thank you. How old was your DS when he started stammering?

I just hope the SALT person takes us seriously. I really hope they don't fob us off with the "oh he'll grow out of it".

This morning DS is still patting his head whilst trying to get a word out. I asked him what he was doing and he started laughing. I said to him "does that help the words come out" and he said "yes it does mum". He's only started doing this the last couple of days and to be honest the head patting/hand smacking does seem to help although it does look a little odd. I don't want him to get into the habit of it.

He also seems out of breath when he talks a lot of the time and I think this is down to the stammer.

I really hope they can help him.

Dd2, saw a SALT for her stammer, when she was about 2 and 1/2. We did something called The Lidcombe Programme, it worked really well with her, she is 5 now and sometimes when she is stressed her speech will become 'bumpy' but she is aware of it and seems to be able to make it 'smooth' again.

She also has massive meltdowns, where she just seems to lose control, and her frustration seems to overwhelm and frighten her. She gets very anxious when things change pattern.

I would say she peaked with all this between 3 and 4 - not helped by the fact that we moved house and had ds in the midst of it all. Things improved a lot with the help of her SALT (who came up with loads of ways to help her and me with anxiety and meltdowns) and when she started school.She is 5 now, and seems a lot more 'even' (IYSWIM!)

Thank you hazey, that's really encouraging.

I had a heart stopping moment yesterday when I took him to a party and the entertainer asked him in front of twenty other kids and ten or so adults what school he was going to in September. All eyes were on him and I was dying for him but he just said "I don't know" with no stammer present. He does know but to be honest I was just relieved that he had the confidence to speak at all.

OP one of my DD's has had a stammer since the age of about 4. I think the symptoms you describe are probably not Tourettes but frustration at not being able to get the words out. The local speech therapy service was useless but I kicked and screamed to get a referral to the Michael Palin Centre (we're in London) which is fantastic.

I was told that if a stammer is going to go away (with treatment) it will do so by the age of 7. DD still has a stammer and will have it for life, she is now 16. She has been taught techniques to control it and I cannot praise the staff at the Michael Palin enough for all their help and support over the years.

tan - tbh i cant remember when he didnt stammer so i think it was there from when he started talking at first i thought it was just because he was learning to talk but it was obvious by 3 and he started nursery that it really was a stammer, it was at its worst age 3-4 started improving at 5 and now at 6 much better but not quite gone

I'm nowhere near London but if the local SALT aren't very supportive then I'd happily pay privately.

Just thought I'd update. Been for a SALT assessment today and they have referred my ds for therapy and also the Lidcombe programme. One thing she did pick up on though was whether he'd ever had a hearing test which he hasn't. She said she thought he was speaking quite loudly and he had said "what" a few times when she spoke to him. To be honest I've never noticed a hearing problem. She also commented on his waxy ears and asked if he suffered a lot with colds. I assume she maybe thinks he may have glue ear but this has never occurred to me before.

He has always had a (for want of a better word) bad snot problem and he sleeps with his mouth open so she may have a point.

She said that his stammer is more than the common preschool stammer a lot of children seem to get but was very positive.

Feel a bit better now that we've spoken to someone

intresting last post tan ds always talks really loudly and says 'what' after everything you say to him im sick of repeating myself butive noticed that often if i dont repeat and give it 3ish seconds he knows what ive said so i dont know if the 'what' is just a habit he can hear a crisp packet from a different room lol

Yes that's what I've always put it down to "selective hearing" (all males have this don't they?)!

Anyway heard from the SALT today that he has a joint therapy session with her and somebody that does the Lidcombe Programme on 23rd Aug. I'm very happy that they seem to be on the ball

Hi, tanfastic a friend of mine tried a bloke called Peter at www.thestammeringproject.co.uk though he was brilliant. He knows his stuff has written a book about stammering. My friend bought the book and said she could not stop laughing it was that funny. Therapy by skype, she said he really knows his stuff. Give him a shout. He's not just eh usual obvious stuff but he takes time to explain, answer questions, deal with your anxieties. My friend virtually drops his name into every conversation. take care.

Hi, tanfastic a friend of mine tried a bloke called Peter at www.thestammeringproject.co.uk though he was brilliant. He knows his stuff has written a book about stammering. My friend bought the book and said she could not stop laughing it was that funny. Therapy by skype, she said he really knows his stuff. Give him a shout. He's not just eh usual obvious stuff but he takes time to explain, answer questions, deal with your anxieties. My friend virtually drops his name into every conversation. take care.