Does your child stutter?
Did you know that stuttering is a condition which should be assessed and treated by a speech pathologist?
Stuttering is a type of disfluent speech that interrupts regular speech production, where children know what they want to say but have trouble saying it. Many people still think stuttering is something that children grow out of or that it is caused by anxiety, however these things may not be true. Some children will stop stuttering without intervention but a family history of stuttering and an onset of stuttering after age three means that your child is much more likely to struggle with fluency into adulthood if not treated. Anxiety, feeling unwell, and tiredness can also be triggers or increase an existing stutter - but is not the cause of the stutter.
There are different types of stuttered speech that you may notice in your child:
Repeating sounds in a word e.g. ‘D-d-d-did you see that?’
Repeating a syllable within a word in a sequence e.g. ‘Can I have a bur-bur-burger?’
Repeating single or multiple words in a sentence e.g. ‘I’m ready to go-go-go-go now’
Stretching or prolonging the first sound of a word, with difficulty moving onto the next sound e.g. ‘we’re going to the ssshhhhop’
Blocking or getting stuck on sounds e.g. ‘Can I pat your (pause/silence) dog’
Verbal behaviours or interruptions e.g. ‘umm’ ‘like’ or ‘well’
Non-verbal or physical behaviours e.g. blinking, head movements, facial grimacing
The best place for more information on stuttering is The Australian Stuttering Research Centre which is based out of UTS university. Please see the link below for all the facts and evidence-based treatment options which your speech therapist at Necessity Kids can help you with:
https://www.uts.edu.au/asrc/information-about-stuttering/what-stuttering
For 2022, we do have individual appointments for stuttering or a preschool stuttering group that you can book your child into. For more information on this see the link below or speak to your speech therapist:
