How to stop stuttering: can I help my child to speak fluently?
What are the different types of stuttering or stuttering that I should be aware of?
What are good practices to help my child stop stuttering?
As a parent, what do I need to know to help my child gain more confidence to stop stuttering?
If you’re looking for help on how to help your child stop stuttering, read on for answers to the most frequently asked questions. Our speech pathologist/speech therapist explains the most common types of stuttering and what to do to help your child achieve speech fluency.
There are 3 types of stuttering or babbling behavior, where your child knows what he wants to say but cannot say it fluently:
1. repetition of sound or sounds: “third I want chocolate!”
2. extension: “Wwwwwhere is the ball?
3. block: (the sound is blocked, your child can’t get the sound out at all… – and then you have to force the sound out):”—–YO have it.”
How to stop stuttering with speech therapy techniques:
1. increase the frequency of fluent speech or behavior that is incompatible with stuttering, and
2. reduce factors associated with stuttering (such as quitting smoking: eg increase chewing gum, reduce factors associated with smoking)
Let’s start with the Do Not List:
1. Don’t pretend there’s no problem. If your child is having difficulty saying something, he would be the first to know on some level (even if he doesn’t articulate it) and people who don’t talk about her difficulty may suggest that it’s taboo. Make it acceptable to talk about stuttering.
2. Don’t ask your child to “take a deep breath.”
Suggestions like that can sometimes disrupt your child’s natural coordination of speech and breathing. Use more general suggestions like ‘Take time for her’ and allow your child to manage her speech on her own. More importantly, action speaks louder than words – show through your action and body language that you are prepared to take your time to hear.
3. Don’t interrupt your child. Provide support and help if needed, but don’t interrupt your child.
Now, let’s talk about the things you should do:
1. Have a way of talking about the concept of speech fluency in a non-judgmental and descriptive way. You cannot change a behavior if you cannot identify or recognize it. Some words you can use are ‘smooth’, ‘irregular speech’, ‘stuck’, ‘easy to say’, ‘nice and smooth’, etc.
2. Introduce the concept of different ways to talk
Encourage your child to observe the different ways others speak, understand the different descriptive words we use, and then speak in different ways himself. for example, soft and loud, slow and fast, low-pitched ‘daddy bear’ voice or high-pitched ‘baby bear’ voice, speaking in a ‘hard’, sudden and effortful way, versus a ‘soft’ way and gentle, speak.king. in. A. way chop.py. versus a ‘soft’ form, etc. The soft, gentle shape makes fluent speech more natural and stuttering less likely.
3. Improve your child’s general condition oral motor coordination for example, with rhymes and tongue twisters. Recite them together with your child until he feels confident, then encourage him to “recite them the same way” himself.
4. Help your child improve overall language competence, for example, learning more words and improving their vocabulary, learning different sentence structures to express ideas or ask questions.
5. Help your child practice long, multi-syllable words, paying attention to sounds and pattern of stress, for example, on a short one-syllable word that is the only one we stress and say ‘Bar’, but in a long word. word like ‘banana’ we say ‘ber-na-ner’and we stress only the second syllable, it is ‘stressed’ or stronger, we do not say ‘Banana’.
6. It is better to prevent than to correct. prevent or prevent situations that make your child likely to stutter. If your child is overly excited, he may not know the right word or sentence, he is about to use a trick word that he may stumble over, etc. prevent he to stutter by
– talk about it yourself first (so you have time to catch your breath), or
– demonstrate clear, fluent and slow speech using the correct words or sentences, or
– provide him with some clues by giving him examples to choose from, eg “Do you want me to press the button and then you catch it, or would you like to press the button and I catch it?”
7. look for the positive also.
Praise examples of successful communication, for example, “Wow, you managed to say that tricky word with ease!” “That was a very interesting story!” “What a long sentence that was!”
Give your child positive reinforcement or praise for different aspects of communication. Don’t judge your child’s speech solely on whether or not he stutters. Communication and interaction is much more than that.
If in doubt, seek professional help.
Without any intervention, a child who stutters may simply outgrow it, or the stuttering may persist into adulthood, with repercussions for school, career, social interaction, and self-esteem.
It is likely that a child will take less time to overcome stuttering and the results are usually more permanent. (Also, hopefully, the children have generally acquired less ’emotional charge’, such as avoidance and low self-esteem.)
If you are concerned, see a speech therapist/pathologist for professional help or support for your child.