Studdering

Donna - posted on 04/19/2009

My daughter is almost 3 years old and has always been an exceptional talker. When she was just over 2 she started to studder alot and i got really worried but the health center nurse told me it is normal as it is just their brain trying to catch up to their large vocabulary. It only lasted a couple of months and just dissappeared. I think if they still studder at 4 years old then it becomes a problem.

Shellby - posted on 04/19/2009

Hi Erinn, I am not a specialist in the area of stuttering, but I am a Speech-Language Pathologist. As the others mentioned, some kids can grow out of it, but every child is different. I agree with the others, if it does not seem to be getting any better within the next couple months I would look up a Speech-Language Pathologist that specializes in fluency/stuttering. The important thing to remember is to be patient with him and not put extra pressure on him when he is trying to talk. You may also want to encourage "slow and easy" speech...like a turtle when he is trying to express his thoughts.

Julie - posted on 04/19/2009

Hi, me again. I stuttered when I was a child, as did my mother and grandfather. I can tell you from personal experience I did grow out of it. I know what does not work. My step-father would yell at me to "get it out." I found that by people drawing attention to my speech, I got worse. In grade school, I rarely spoke for fear of stuttering. I learned as I got older, how to control it and have eventually lost it.



My son stammers/stutters at times. He is 12 now and when I first recognized it, I made a decision to sit and patiently listen to him and not draw any attention to his speech [almost ignoring it]. As he grew older, he rarely stutters now. I personally believe that stuttering can be worsened or prolonged by stress and anxiety. This triggers more stuttering.



Guess what? My son just represented his school in public speaking contest. The first time he would ever give a speech. There was once he stammered, but was very slight. He knew the more he read his speech and knew it, the less he would stammer. When he was done speaking and sat down, I wanted to cry. I was so proud of him. I would have never had the courage to do so at his age.

Becky - posted on 04/19/2009

Quoting Elizabeth:

I would wait a while to have it checked out. At 3 years old they are devoloping a large vocabulary and sometimes their brains move quicker than their mouths can. My daughter had the same issue. I always told her to slow down so I could understand her. If it doesn't change at all within the next few months.....I would call his doctor. My cousin is a speech pathologist and she said to give it at least this long.

I agree with Elizabeth - - they only have so many 'words' that 3 year olds have.

Just ask them to slow down it should help.

Amanda - posted on 04/19/2009

I have a three year old daughter who is doing exactly the same thing, and has gone through 2 other "stages" of stuttering - it seems to come and go for her. I read that these episodes can preceed an expansion in vocabulary which i have found to be true. It can be quite frustrating for her though so i tell her to take a deep breath and think about what shes trying to say. i think that helps. i agree with waiting a couple of months and not making a big deal about it.

Elizabeth - posted on 04/19/2009

I would wait a while to have it checked out. At 3 years old they are devoloping a large vocabulary and sometimes their brains move quicker than their mouths can. My daughter had the same issue. I always told her to slow down so I could understand her. If it doesn't change at all within the next few months.....I would call his doctor. My cousin is a speech pathologist and she said to give it at least this long.

Mallory - posted on 04/19/2009

My little brother had severl speech impediments as a child and my parents put him in the sppech Therapy group that was offered at our local public school. He worked with the counselor for a year and a half and then he was fine. He's spoken normally ever since. :)