Causes & Treatment of Stuttering in Young Children

Having a stuttering problem can be extremely detrimental to a child's emotional, social and academic endeavors. I remember taking English 101 in College a few years back and my professor stuttered. The man was a genius, but his words fell flat on the floor as he continually found himself stuttering out Plato passages. It gets worst: he was from Boston. I sincerely hope no one from Boston is reading this and/or taking it to heart. Love the accent, but add a stutter to it and you have a voice that's impossible to take seriously. I recall a few moments where he would stutter the word (in a thick Boston accent) "article" and the class would break out laughter. The poor man would turn red. I truly admired him though, and the way he taught, in my eyes, was profound and influential. The professor was in his late 40s. Had he done something about his stutter, say, 30 years back, there's a significant chance he'd have gotten over it.

I also played baseball in little league with a kid who stuttered an unbelievable amount. Every word that came out of his mouth was diced like a carrot. What a great hitter this kid was, though. Now, his stuttering issue is gone, and it's because he went through treatment and was motivated to stop his stuttering problem.

Motivation is crucial in treating any language disorder in children. The odd paradigm revolving alalia syllabaris (the technical term for a stuttering disorder, also a word no one can pronounce without stuttering), is that treatment is more effective at an early age, yet self-motivation to overcome it becomes more present at a later age. I'd safely assume that a child is motivated more to overcome his/her stuttering habit as they grow older and realize that not all children stutter. A child who stutters feels separated, judged, and misunderstood. All of this confliction is scientifically correlated with depression and anxiety, which WORSEN the condition itself. So, it's best to treat a child with a stuttering problem early in their lives before it truly affects them. We at Suffolk Center for Speech center our treatment on the motivation of a child, and our highly qualified therapists specialize in the treatment of fluency disorders (stuttering). The purpose of this post is to help parents decide whether or not their child may have a stuttering problem and serve as an informative outlet for tips on gradual improvement of a child's fluency.

It's likely that about 5% of all children will experience a stuttering issue at some point in their development, usually during their preschool years. It's also pretty normal for a child to experience phases of stuttering and non-stuttering. Often, this can happen if a child is overly stimulated, tired, or feels rushed to speak. It is said that if a child stutters on more than 10 words out of 100, this may indicate that he/she has a stuttering problem.

What causes stuttering?

A lot is still unknown about the causes of stuttering, but experts agree that stuttering is most plausibly a combined effect of genetics, developmental factors, and environmental factors. Most children that stutter have a family member that stutters or stuttered as a child. As a child develops, especially during their preschool years, their physical, cognitive, social/emotional, and speech/language skills are all growing at a rapid rate, which can lead to stuttering in a child (especially one genetically predisposed to it). Some examples of environmental factors that could lead to a fluency disorder in a child include: parental attitudes & expectations, a child's speech and language environment, and stressful life events. If a child's environment tends to cause fear and anxiety in the child, this can cause and continue to worsen stuttering problems.

How can it be treated?

 

Treatment of stuttering often focuses on having a child produce fluent speech as they learn to self-monitor. It's a gradual process. A child starts by saying a single word, in a slow, relaxed way. Gradually, the child turns this single word into a sentence. The number of words a therapist prompts a child to say is slowly increased. The number one goal for a therapist teaching a child to overcome his stuttering is instilling a sense of calmness and diminishing anxiety during speech. For example, a child will slowly construct this word into a full sentence without stuttering: "ball," "green ball," "a big green ball," "I have a big green ball." Another stuttering treatment technique focuses on guiding a child in diminishing secondary characteristics such as twitching, abnormal blinking, and a closed or clamped jaw. Relaxation is key, and it takes the patience and practice of a professional often to help a child fully overcome a stuttering issue.

 

How can I help my child at home?

 



What TO DO...

• Talk about it. Talking about it with your child, in a calm tone, will diminish their anxiety about the issue. It will make them feel less uncomfortable talking about it with you as well, and hopefully with a therapist.
• Use a smooth, relaxed tone of voice when talking to your child and encourage them to use the same smooth, relaxed tone of voice when talking with others.
• Speak to your child in short, simple sentences.
• Listen to your child. Try not to multi-talk all of the time. It's difficult when you have a million things going on, but giving your child full attention will help with their self-esteem and their motivation to speak fluently.
• Don't be afraid to tell your child "I'm sorry, I couldn't understand what you said," or, "You had a little trouble getting that out." Address the problem, but don't rush the solution.
• Try to minimize the level of excitement in your home. This will take away from the overstimulation your child experiences, which can directly contribute to a stuttering problem.

What NOT TO DO...

• Try not to finish your child's sentences for them.
• Avoid telling your child to "slow down," "relax," or "take a breath." These suggestions could elicit frustration in a child, which will worsen the problem.
• Wait patiently until your child finishes a sentence. Look them directly in the eye, and don't put off a sense of embarrassment, confusion, or anything that will disrupt the child or discourage him/her.
• Slow down your speaking with your child, but not to the degree which he/she feels as if you think they're unintelligent and require drastically halted conversation.

 Written by: Tim Strampfer