Hey, I just wondered if anyone has had any experience with their child(ren) stuttering? My 3 year old has just recently, in the last couple of weeks, started to stutter almost constantly. It is mostly when he is trying to talk to someone, not when he is playing pretend with his toys and such, but during a conversation. I should mention that this child is like the energizer bunny in that he never walks, never sits still, is very LOUD and to watch him is like watching a pinball in a pinball machine bouncing around constantly I can't tell if the stuttering is because his mouth is trying to move faster than his brain or if it's something I should be concerned about and watch for anything else. I have 3 other children, 2 of whom are older than him and don't remember them going through a "stage" where they stuttered. Both the older two are boys, also. I have a 10 month old baby girl and he has adjusted well to having a baby sister, so I don't think it's an attention getter, but I could be wrong...it's been known to happen occasionally ;-) Thanks in advance for any information/experience. Barbara
Well, I have a 3 1/2 year old who has been Very well spoken since she was 2 (scary really). Anyway, one day she started stuttering. I told her to stop and think about what she was going to say and then say it. She didn't stutter. Every time after that maybe for 2 weeks or so when she would start I would tell her the same thing again and no stuttering. Then it was just an attention getter. But I think it is that her mind is going faster than her mouth and making her stop for a moment worked for us. She doesn't do it anymore. So that worked for us. Hope this helps.
They will grow out of it. My brother stuttered bad, but doesn't anymore. My youngest son stuttered too when he was 3-4 years old. Now that he will soon be 9 and I have not heard him stutter in a very long time!
:iagree: We did the same thing during dd's brief stuttering phase. She was right around 3 when it started and it only lasted a few weeks. We also found that it had a lot to do with being excited. For example, it would happen most when we'd just get home from work or when she would see her granparents or other family members. HTH!!
oh! haha! thats funny! cuz see.. she makes long, usually well thought out posts about topics. Man. That's comedy. Meylinda too! oh lawrddd... long posters are so dumb. Don't they know that forums are only for people who's thoughts could barely half fill a shot glass? Or is that a chatroom? I get so confused. oh well. LOLOLOL. lts all tlk lke ths so we dnt ovr do our branz.
My son started stuttering too. We did speech therapy for a long time, but I am not sure if that helped, or just time/age helped, but he eventually stopped. (he started stuttering at the end of the words which had me concerned) I think if it happened again (with next one) I would wait it out a bit and see what it does on its own.
Thing One has been doing this too, part of Ken's post explains it - I disagree with the speech therapist part. Thing One will talk fine for a while, then stutter for a few days, maybe a week - but after that I notice a jump in her vocabulary. This was also an explanation I found online, so I feel good in my diagnosis that there is nothing *wrong*. The most important thing to do is not call attention to it, do look them in the eye, don't correct or finish their sentences for them, and wait patiently for them to get their thoughts out.
Thanks for the replies. I have done some online research already and my query was mainly for additional input, if anyone else had experienced the same thing. I'm not trying to circumvent a trip to the ped's for a medical diagnosis by asking on here... I have been careful to not draw negative attention to it and have cautioned his older brothers not to fuss at him about it. I don't think he even realizes he's doing it so it may just run its course. Thanks again to those of you who offered suggestions/advice/experiences. Appreciate it. Barbara
Go see a speech therapist. And, as a person who stuttered for about 20 years, Cleo's advice is spot on:
I agree that in most circumstances, the child will out grow it. BUT in some cases, therapy is absolutely necessary. With IDEA, the county is required to provide needed services before a child starts school if deemed necessary after an evaluation has been conducted. I would def has your child evaluated by a professional. DH had probs as a boy with stuttering. He has told me the difficulties he went through.
My son, who is 18 has stuttered since he was able to talk. Speech therapy is very helpful. Your child can be tested, as we did. Have your pediatrician recommend someone. Although speech therapy did not completely resolve the situation, we went to www.speecheasy.com . He now has a device that eliminates the stuttering. Now ofcourse, this on the chance that an individual just cannot control it by himself. But there are resources out there and dont hesitate to use them . Like Cleo said, never finish a sentence, interupt, etc. It only brings attention to the problem and may cause a child to become extremely self-concious. Hope this helps and good luck !
Speech Therapist comes to your home... I pm'd you about a speech therapist that comes to my home for my daughter. I also wanted to mention my brother had a friend growing up who stuttered horribly, but when he took French in jr. high school, he never stuttered.
Our little girl went through a phase with this when she was about that age as well, it was like her mouth couldn't catch up with her thoughts fast enough to get the words out, it was just a phase and it passed quickly. We didn't call attention to it, and like the pp's didn't finish her sentences for her, etc. I would just give it a little time to see what happens. I do think it's a pretty common thing in language development, but it did scare me that something was wrong, but she has absolutely no problems with it now, and the problem did not last long at all.
I totally agree with Ken in his first post. Both of my children had this problem - it was very frustrating for them. I started off with their pediatrician as most speech therapist require referral. At the time my daughter was 3 1/2 yrs old and was in speech until she started Kindergarten by this time no one would have ever known that she had a problem with stuttering. My son was around 3 when he started and it was horrible, again he was very frustrated to the point that he would not say anything unless he absolutely had to, again to pediatrician and then to speech 2 times per week. His problem was serious he was in speech until third grade. And with both children the therapist explained that their minds are going faster than they can speak. I would definitely start with your pediatrician - as this problem can go from talk, talk, talk to saying nothing unless made to which is very heartbreaking for the child and parents. My grandson also has a speech problem and has been seeing a therapist for about 6 months now and it is amazing already the difference the therapist has made and the confidence he has regained. He is in daycare and the therapist comes to the daycare 2 times per week.
