Stuttering

STUTTERING IS...

The involuntary disruption of the natural flow of speech and the speaker’s reaction to these disruptions.

If your child tends to hesitate on, prolong or repeat syllables, words or phrases, he/she may have a stuttering problem OR he/she may simply be going through a normal dysfluent period as many children do when they are developing speech and language skills. A Speech-Language Pathologist can help you distinguish these normal dysfluencies from stuttering.

CHILDREN WITH NORMALLY DYSFLUENT SPEECH USUALLY...

• are between the ages of 1 _ and 5 years.
• are going through a new stage of learning and developing speech and language skills.
• repeat syllables, whole words or phrases only once or twice with relatively even rhythm and stress.
• hesitate and use fillers (e.g., “um,” “uh”).

CHILDREN WITH A STUTTERING PROBLEM MAY...

• repeat sounds, syllables or words more than once or twice.
• produce these repetitions with relatively uneven rhythm or stress.
• prolong sounds.
• speak with considerable effort and tension.
• avoid certain words, sounds or speaking situations.

SOME THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT STUTTERING

• Today, there are approximately 3 million people in the United States who stutter.
• About 5% of all children are likely to stutter for several months or more during the early speech and language development years.
• Stuttering is 3 to 5 times more common in boys than in girls.
• Stuttering tends to run in families.
• The frequency and severity of stuttering usually varies with time and circumstance.
• Stress, anxiety, nervousness, excitement, tiredness all affects fluency.
• There is rarely one single contributing factor to account for a child’s stuttering.

THE SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS AT ABILITIES can help a child who stutters develop more fluent speech. The Speech-Language Pathologist can also work with the family to learn ways to help the child at home.