Severe Stuttering Disorder

I myself stutter. I have my entire life. As does my father and his brother. Yet, I've managed to give countless presentations, earned an MBA, and now recording my voice for web-based tutorials!

I agree with another post, that you should communicate with the child as naturally as with anyone else - continue eye contact through pauses, don't talk over them or finish a sentence, and be patient. As the child grows, teach them about the "mechanics" of stuttering - how it happens and why - so that they detach their self-worth from the poor speech habit. It's my understanding that stuttering, for many, will never go away completely.

Also, in my experience, as a child gets older, the stutter will worsen as anxiety about the stutter worsens. As a young adult, I've found that techniques oriented towards relieving anxiety are the most effective way to manage my speech. And part of that is not getting stressed, anxious or scared, when I stammer or stutter over a word.

You can probably tell I'm passionate about this and am convicted about what ought and ought not to taught to a stuttering child. But I'll stop here :)

Good luck!

Hello T.: I felt compelled to forward one of the responses I received back in 2009 regarding stuttering. It helped me tremendously to hear from Janie G!

Janie G. answers from Riverbank on October 18, 2009
Hi S.,

I don't have a child who stutters, but I was a stuttering child and I thought I might be able to help you understand your son's point of view. First, I was uncommonly not embarrassed about my stuttering, and it was because my family was very supportive and treated me no different from my fluent twin sister. It helped me that they didn't complete my sentences for me, didn't get impatient when I had trouble speaking, and never excused or explained my speech to others. Speech therepy was made to be a special treat for me, and I was encouraged and pushed in academics the same as my sister (we were both straight-A students all through school).

It's important to know that stuttering can be managed and sometimes cured through speech therepy. I was a moderate stutterer at 3, and started speech therepy at that time. I continued therepy through the 7th grade, when I achieved normal fluency. I relapsed a couple of times in my life when I experienced high stress levels, but I was always able to get it back under control.

There are a lot of things you can do at home to help your son. A few things I remember were how patient my mom was: she would listen calmly until I got out what I was trying to say, and when I started tightening up and really struggling, she would remind me to relax and take a deep breath, which would usually loosen me up enough to speak fluently. Another thing that gave me confidence was reading or repeating rhymes. Stutterers very rarely stutter when there is rhythm and rhyme. Repeating poetry or nursery rhymes that have a cadence will help very much. Singing is great too--he won't stutter when he sings, so encourage it often.

Good luck, I know you'll give your son the support and love he needs to weather this challenge!

Janie

The speech therapist should be able to tell you things you can do to help your son outside of therapy.

I worked w/several kids (and adults too!) who stuttered. I would just make a conscious effort to never talk over them, keep eye contact btwn pauses, and overall let them know I was okay to wait while they finished their sentences.

gl

Hi T.,
My daughter (now 8) also began to stutter pretty badly about 3 years of age. We did speech therapy (consult your local public school special ed department and you may get it for free even though your child is not yet in elementary school!) for about a year and followed the instructions that were given to us and she no longer stutters or even has to try to concentrate not to stutter. Several, if not most, children will stutter at some point because their brains are simply going faster than their mouths can go. Then, they out grow it. Good luck to you and your child!

If he is still stuttering, or if it returns, get help through The Stuttering Foundation at www.stutteringhelp.org.

Hi T.! I found this article for you. It looks like this will help you in the meantime. http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_help-child-who-stutt...