My child is now 5 years and he stutters. Initially, i thought nothing of it as he could grow out of it i guess. But i got more and more concern if this will persist into his later years. How can i help to stop his stuttering ?
My daughter stuttered from the age of 4, she is now 10. The problem seemed to come and go, but at its worst it made her withdrawn and self conscious. I had a referral to a speech therapist and it was the best thing I could have done. There are so many forms of speech problem and so many different reasons and triggers. The therapist told me that she cannot cure my daughter but she can teach her strategies to control her problem. Hers seemed to be that her brain worked quicker than her speech and there was a delay in selecting the right word. This in turn made her more anxious and the problem was worsened. She would "elongate" ie drag out the initial sound and would also speak louder. She would make strange faces in trying to get her words out also which embarrassed her. She described the problem as her words getting stuck in her throat. Speech therapy works best when the problem is addressed early. You have nothing to lose by going down the therapy route. It also helps your child to know that they are not the only ones suffering from the problem and help is at hand. Its not easy to hear your child struggle. The therapist also taught me how to help my child positively and also contacted my daughters school and liased with them. Good luck, I understand your concern but can assure you that help is out there.
Feb 11, 2008
Try getting him to speak in 2-3 words block by: Lesley
My kid stuttered too when he was about 7 years old. He is now 10 and seems to have overcome his stuttering problem. He would say something like "i ...i...i....want.......to...to.... ". I was told to be patience with him and wait for him to finish his sentences. Try not to rush him or help him to complete his sentences.
I then tried to teach him to use two-three words blocks so that he can speak in byte size to complete a longer sentence. It goes something like "i want...to eat...ice cream...may i...have it....". This creates a starting point.
After some time, i would asked him to use three words block. so this time "I want to....eat ice cream ....may i have....some?". This progressed slowly and helped him gain confidence to use longer words "block" which ultimately resolved his stuttering.
Now, i am not 100% sure if this is clinically proven but it did worked for my son. Maybe you can try. Hope it will be useful to you.
