Fluency/stuttering; On-line Support?

My dd is almost 3 1/2 and has some speech problems. She mispronounces a lot of letter, more than normal for her age. She stutters some, but mostly the whole word. It is hard to understand her for some people, I can most of the time, since I am with her all the time. She has a hard time getting out what she wants to say and sometimes just gives up. She gets very frustrated trying to talk, or when people dont understand her. She also speaks very quietly, so that makes it worse! We will be having her evaluated in a few weeks.
S.

My 5 year old has fluency/stuttering issues and is also in speech therapy. He started at a private clininc this summer and is now going to receive therapy from the school, as well.

I'd love to talk with you about it.

Hi H. -

Although my situation is a bit different than yours, I likely know how you are feeling. My son was identified through Universal Newborn Hearing Screening with hearing loss. He has a teacher for the deaf/hard of hearing come out once a week and a speech teacher once a month. It is very hard to watch him struggle with certain sounds. So much so that I feel sorry for him sometimes and just want them to stop pushing him so hard. If your child is receiving speech and you can watch (2 way mirror would be ideal), try to watch how they get your child to talk - the techniques they use. They are professionals so they are able to be more subtle about this, but if you can use some of their tips/techniques at home this will work much better.

Know that every child has challenges and some can be overcome. Also know that if they can't overcome them, they are still the same beautiful child that you were chosen to parent. I'm sure you are a great Mom! We all want our children to succeed easily with all that they do. Sometimes I think it's harder on us than it is on them!

Take Care!
M.

My daughter is 5 and I finally got the school dist. to test her for stuttering. She only stutters when at home. Her teacher and the speach therapist never hear her stutter. I'm like great they probaly think I'm nuts. My daughter stutters every single day at home. I'm suppose to slow myself down, I tend to talk really fast and get excited I guess.She thinks if I slow down and talk like Mr.Rogers (she really said that) that in return my daughter will slow down. If the stuttering goes on after two weeks of myself slowing down I'm suppose to call back. I can totally relate with you.. I get frurstrated and have unknowingly just started tuning her out. I feel really bad and guilty but it's similar to a baby crying I just tune it out. It's very hard to drive in heavy traffic with my daughter little Ms. Motor Mouth stuttering..I've had to tell her I have to concentrate on the road hold on and you can talk in a minute. Does your daughter stutter all the time? I find it really weird my daughter doens't stutter at school only at home and with friends and family. The school therapist gave me some suggestions and a pile of paperwork to read on how to help your child. I haven't read it quite yet, I just met with the speach therapist on Monday.

My daughter went through that phase when she was 4 1/2. I thought about getting her speech therapy since my brother needed it for pronunciation and saying his "s" sounds...they sounded like "sn"...anyways I waited to get her therapy since it wasn't severe, and she grew out of it for the most part. I suffer from mild stuttering, I have moments I can barely speak a complete sentence. I find it funny, but that is just me. When she is extremely upset, either mad or crying, she will stutter. I hope this is just a phase for your daughter and if not I hope she can learn to work past it with therapy. Good Luck! I am willing to talk to you about this more if you are interested.

H.

Hi,
I have a three yr old boy that stutters. It was alarming when it first started happening, but I researched online and I found out that usually the child will correct themselves, and out grow the stuttering. The adult should not correct the child, or rush the child when he is trying to talk, but just act normal and patient, and hear the child out. My daycare child here is doing just that, he first started tapping his foot, and nodding his head, as if to slow himself down, before he would talk. Now he rarely has a diffcult time talking, and is hardly noticable. I hope that will be the same outcome for your child as well.
-M.

Hello there, I'm not sure where you live but there is a stuttering meeting held at the Universary in River Falls once a month (I think). I'm not sure when the next meeting is though. I know that they talk about all different topics and have speakers now and then about stuttering. Sorry I'm not too much help. There are also stuttering websites like www.stutteringhelp.org
I'm actually a speech therapist and a mother but my baby is only 3 months old so don't have anyone in my family who stutters. Hope this helps.

my 4 year old is being tested soon for speech and stuttering.. not sure what they are gonna say but within the last few months ive notice him stuttering.. the way it sounds he will be going twice a week for half days for speech therpy. if you want you can email me thru here or ____@____.com
im more then happy to talk.. im lost as i dont know what they will do. i also had speech problems. and was sent for speech therpy. good luck

After I read this, I called my mom and husband at work to get their input.

My husband and little brother went through speech therapy in grade school; my brother only for a year, but my husband didn't get help until 5th grade. My brother had trouble pronouncing a few letters and would stutter, but it was taken care of by the end of 1st grade. My husband, however, still has a slight lisp when he talks too fast or is excited (usually involving a new computer gadget) which I think is cute, but then again, he's my husband. :P

I know speech problems are frustrating, but give it some time, things will work out. Having patience is key, my husband says. He said my in-laws never pushed him or corrected him, just let him work it out on his own. As time went on, he would catch himself more and would learn what was triggering his slurring/lisping. As for my brother, Mom says he just seemed to outgrow it.

My husband said if you'd like to talk to him about the therapy he went through in school and what my in-laws did to help, let me know. He'd be more than happy to give you his email address if you're looking for more information. Hang in there, it will get better! :)

I'm actually the stutterer in my family. It's mostly gone now (I still do it when frustrated or really tired). I didn't go to any speech therapy, I just didn't talk that much and I would talk to myself a lot and try to work it out on my own. I don't have any other recommendations as to a therapist or anything, but I just wanted to share my own success with you so you feel more hopeful. Did I mention that I'm now a stage actress? Yeah. It can be done!